


The Chocolatier's Widsom

by Scrib_hneoir



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amazing, I think I just crammed a 100k novel into 20k words, M/M, Valentine's Day Fluff, hello its me posting valentines day stuff in april, it happens once in like 500 words though so it not a big deal, underaged drinking, welcome to the not quite so cut-and-dry land of internalized homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 17:31:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10701747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scrib_hneoir/pseuds/Scrib_hneoir
Summary: Akaashi could just do it now, not a thought for the others around him. Everyone was already heading for the showers now anyway, he could probably keep Bokuto an extra minute to do the confession and get it over with -“Boys shouldn’t give other boys chocolates on Valentine’s.”- Akaashi lowered the chocolate back into the bag.





	The Chocolatier's Widsom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shun_Takei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shun_Takei/gifts).



> [Takei thought Takei requested me to write this but jokes on Takei I probably would have written it straight up anyway](http://takei-draws.tumblr.com/post/157476739226/second-batch-of-fill-a-page-februarys-drawings)  
> (shrug emoji)
> 
>  
> 
> I basically listened to [Habits of My Heart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDJOP16yNdY) by Jaymes Young on repeat for the entire first 15k words if that explains anything. then listened to [Eclipse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjlA_C6UUVY) by Jim Yosef on repeat for the final 6k. music really sets the mood doesnt it lol

_“B… Bokuto-san… I know this may seem… out of the ordinary… even so, I was hoping that…” Akaashi stopped, swallowing hard. His hands were sweating bullets; his entire body stood on uneven ground, a small gust of wind liable to push him to his knees. The small, red box tied shut with a shiny, silver ribbon felt slick in his hands where he held it behind his back. He fumbled to keep it in his grasp, overly aware of how heavy it was compared to his origami legs; how bright it was compared to his dull expression._

_“That you might… accept… this…” Trailing off, Akaashi moved his hands like rusty cogs to hand the box of chocolates to Bokuto._

_Only now his hands were empty. The weight of the box had vanished between here and there and faint laughter was beginning to echo towards Akaashi. His heart rate accelerated tenfold as he searched for Bokuto’s eyes to confirm the other’s reaction. Surely there was a misunderstanding -_

 

Akaashi awoke with a start and a feeling of falling, jerking his legs up with a force that threw his whole body several centimeters to the side. Breathing hard, he sat up and ran a hand over his sweaty face, trying to calm down his racing nerves enough to breathe evenly again. It took a while, but he got there: shallow breaths growing deeper, sweat edging off stifling and becoming chilled, fingers untangling themselves from fabric and hair. Akaashi closed his eyes, counted to eleven, and curled his fingernails into the arches of his feet — there, that felt better.

It was the ninth time in the past couple months Akaashi had witnessed that specific dream and the second time it had ended with the box vanishing into thin air. Sometimes it was empty, other times it had stuck to his hands, once it had started a fire, and another time the ‘from x’ tag had had someone else’s name. That wasn’t even what really bothered Akaashi, though.

No, what bothered him was that Bokuto never had a face in his dreams. Bokuto’s expression was always hidden in shadows, or light, or simply not there at all. Akaashi never knew what dream-Bokuto was thinking or how he was reacting to Akaashi’s lackluster confession, and surprisingly that wasn’t doing wonders to Akaashi’s confidence in real life.

Because Akaashi _was_ planning to confess; or at the very least, give Bokuto a box of chocolates. Gods, it was definitely the most cliche scenario Akaashi had ever heard of, but if it at all went wrong at the very least it was an _excuse_. It gave Akaashi and easy out.

_“Yeah, they’re from that girl in class three.”_

_“A joke from Kuroo-san, you know how he is.”_

_“From me? Don’t be ridiculous Bokuto-san.”_

_“I’m not like that.”_

_“I’m not like… that.”_

_“I’m not…_ that _.”_

A wave of nausea washing over him and running his body cold, Akaashi threw himself from his bed and stumbled to the bathroom, the world feeling unreal around him as he burned to feel warm again. The air felt freezing against his sweat covered skin and every step was walking across sheer ice. Careening around the corner of the bathroom, he almost body-slammed his emerging sister. Her hands shot out to catch him with a quiet curse hissed between her teeth.

“Kei-chan, what’re you doing?!” she muttered in angry surprised, clearly not having expected anyone else to be up at whatever godforsaken hour it was. She smelled like cigarettes and perfume and her clothes were rough and smelled sweaty, not pajamas. Had she just gotten home? Something must have come up at work to keep her out so late. “You realize what time it is? And why are you shivering, are you sick? Are you feeling unwell?” She rested a cool hand against Akaashi’s forehead, which he quickly pushed away.

“I’m f-fine,” he stammered. “Just needed… to use the bathroom…”

Even in the dark, he knew she was giving him a disbelieving look. She had been able to read him like a book ever since they were young, stereotypically enough. Akaashi kept his eyes trained on the floor. “Gonna let me pass?” he asked after a minute.

She sighed and stepped out of the way, letting Akaashi through. “If it was a bad dream, you can always tell your big sister, okay? It can help you, too.”

Akaashi forced a smile to add false-reassurance to his voice. “Dinner just isn’t settling right, don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll be fine in the morning.”

She didn’t say anything more. Akaashi slipped into the bathroom and shut the door, exhaling quietly and sliding to the floor, wrapping his arms around himself. Had the house always been this cold in February? He couldn’t seem to remember a time any different.

 

The next morning, Akaashi found that the snow from a week ago remained firmly on the ground, blanketing the district in a layer of cold whiteness despite the glaring, unobstructed sun above. He sighed at the sight and closed his shades, not ready to deal with the brightness of the day quite yet.

After brushing his teeth, Akaashi had to mentally prepare himself to get dressed in his uniform. He took a solid five minutes to stare it down in his closet before even pulling it from the hanger and laying it on the bed.

“Favorite part of my morning,” Akaashi muttered under his breath as he dragged the clothes onto his body, hating every second that the fabric brushed his skin and choked his wrists, waist, and neck.

When he finally made it downstairs, he found his sister just pulling eggs off the stove, sliding them onto a plate and sliding the plate onto the table set for two. She caught sight of him when he had no more than one foot off the last step, smiling brightly. “Good morning, Kei-chan! I made breakfast for us, all plain stuff in case you stomach is still upset. What do you want on your toast?”

Akaashi couldn’t help but smile slightly at the gesture. “Thanks, nee-san. Just butter is fine.”

She grinned. She always smiled a lot, Akaashi thought as he took a seat and she pushed the plate of plain eggs and toast towards him. She always did enough for the both of them — smiled enough, cooked enough, worked enough, studied enough. It was as if she were picking up all the slack Akaashi couldn’t carry himself.

When breakfast was over, they left the house at the same time — Akaashi to walk to school, his sister to head to her first of two jobs of the day.

“I’ll be home late, but there’s some left overs in the fridge you can warm up,” she said with a smile, the skin pulling at her shadow-laden eyes. “Text me if anything comes up, alright?”

He smiled for her and nodded, agreeing. With that, they were off.

 

* * *

 

Fukurōdani Academy was always busy in the early morning right up until the bell rang. Akaashi had been surprised by this when he started there, having been used to school not picking up until ten minutes before the first bell. Now, Akaashi had to work his way around crowds of all kinds even an hour before classes started, which had bothered him, but he was slowly getting used to it.

“Akaashi-kun!” a voice called out once he was past the shoe lockers, and Akaashi turned to find Sarukui jogging towards him with a wave. “Just the man I was wanted to see! We’re having an emergency meeting before school starts. Do you know where Konoha-kun is?”

Akaashi shook his head. “No, I just arrived.”

“No problem then. You head to the club room and I’ll round up whoever’s left. Bokuto-kun has a pretty interesting announcement.” Sarukui laughed as he patted Akaashi firmly on the shoulder. “See you in a bit, then.” And with that, he was off.

Akaashi felt like it took too much effort to turn his feet in the direction of the club room. It always seemed to take extra mental build up to face Bokuto, especially after the dreams and the way Akaashi thought about him… Just seeing Bokuto’s face smiling at him made his heart race as if he were running a marathon. Akaashi wished he could control his emotions better.

The club room was already filled with the most of the team, corner to corner of the room packed with Bokuto shouting at Onaga about lunch and Washio holding Onaga back from physically launching himself at Bokuto. Bokuto was laughing brightly and flooding the room with warmth. Akaashi was almost convinced that if he looked out the window now, he’d see spring flowers blooming through the snowbed.

“Oh, Akaashi-kun’s here!” Komi exclaimed, silencing Onaga’s shouting. Bokuto’s laughter trailed off.

Akaashi bowed respectfully to his seniors. “Good morning,” he said, lifting his bag from his shoulder to set it on the ground near the door. “What’s the commotion today?”

“Onaga-kun owes Bokuto-kun lunch,” Washio explained slowly, not relaxing his hold on the first year who still looked ready to throw down with his senior. “For losing the practice match yesterday, but Onaga-kun is demanding a rematch.”

“Bokuto-san cheated!” Onaga argued. “He had Akaashi-san on his team. That’s cheating!”

Akaashi frowned as he took a spare chair. “How is that cheating?” He pointedly focused his gaze on Onaga and Washio instead of Bokuto. Akaashi wasn’t ready to face Bokuto directly yet.

“Because when you two are on a team it totally tips the odds in your favour, because you’re the only one Bokuto-san listens too,” Onaga reasoned angrily. “To make it fair, _you_ should have been on _my_ team!”

Akaashi wasn’t following Onaga’s line of thought, but he nodded as if he did understand.

“See? Akaashi-san agrees with me. I demand a rematch!” Onaga finished.

Eyes finally turned to Bokuto for the final verdict. Akaashi realized that the usually boisterous Bokuto had been silent up until now. That concern was lost in seconds, however, as Akaashi found himself forced to look at his real life fantasy.

Bokuto was well toned like a statue of a Greek god, salt-and-pepper hair defying gravity and rich, brown eyes looking around the room at everyone but Akaashi, uniform hugging his frame in a sinfully tight fashion, large hands fiddling with his backpack strap -

Akaashi swallowed and turned his gaze to the window just behind Bokuto’s head where the sunlight shot through. That way it looked like he was still looking at his captain while not actually looking at him. It was a habit Akaashi had picked up recently and it worked well enough to employ often.

“I suppose we can see if there’s time at the end of practice today, just know that I’ll totally annihilate you again!” Bokuto exclaimed, giving them all a superior smile. “I don’t need Akaashi to be the best!”

The team broke into laughter and more murmuring, a couple, “That’s cold, Bokuto-kun,” floating around. Akaashi forced a raised, indifferent eyebrow, as if the statement didn’t bother him at all. It had taken some time, but Akaashi had come to understand that comments like these were backwards compliments coming from Bokuto. Akaashi let the comment slide over him and he returned his attention to the conversation.

Soon after, the door flew open and Sarukui appeared, dragging a reluctant Konoha behind him. “We’re here!” he said triumphantly. “This one was a hard one to track down. Finally cornered him in the library.”

“I have a math test to study for!” Konoha complained, still clutching a text book under his free arm. “What could be more important than my grade?”

“My plan of course!” Bokuto argued, jumping to his feet. “Alright! Now that everyone’s here, it’s time to reveal… Operation Valentine’s Day: Give Shirofuku And Suzumeda The Best Valentine’s Day From The Team Ever!”

Onaga and Komi clapped as Washio gave Bokuto a deadpan look. “We’re doing… what now?”

Bokuto straightened his back and smiled as if he had the whole thing already planned — which he probably did, but only by Bokuto’s standards. Akaashi knew that just meant most of the actual work would fall to the rest of the team — and by “the rest of the team” that mean him.

“We’re throwing a Valentine’s Day party for our managers, of course,” Bokuto reiterated. “C’mon — we have the practice game against Itachiyama that day, which ties up our lovely managers too. No lady should be alone on Valentine’s Day! So…” He trailed off and gestured his hands as if the team should be able to fill in the rest of the gaps.

Konoha raised a hand. “Uh, yeah, small problem with this plan. Wouldn’t it seem as if we’re all, like, hitting on them or something? The connotations here are kinda blurring the lines of ‘friendship’… Komi-san is fine, of course, he already has his heart stolen.”

“Ah yes, the puppet-master who cursed my - ” Komi began, hurriedly shushed by a slap in the face by Konoha and laughter from the rest of the team.

Washio was nodding through it all. “I agree with Konoha-kun, it might be come off as a little weird — but, since we’re all close with Shirofuku-san, I think we can get our intentions across without misunderstanding. If she understands, Suzumeda-san will understand as well. What do you think, Akaashi-kun?”

Akaashi jumped at being addressed and tightened his hands in the fabric of his pants. All eyes on him — _Bokuto’s_ eyes on him — he swallowed and said, “The thought behind the action is kind, and I believe we could do it without misunderstanding, but this then raises the issue of actually pulling it off.” He glanced around the room. “All the third years have to keep their grades up for upcoming university, leaving them little time to put together an event like this. The amount of work I’m sure Bokuto-san wants to put into this would be too much for just myself and Onaga-kun to handle.”

There was a series of sighs and nods around the club room.

“Perhaps it would just be easier,” Akaashi went on, “for everyone in the club to buy chocolates for each other and do a short exchange post the practice game with Itachiyama.”

He immediately regretted the words the second they were out of his mouth. Everyone on the team give chocolates to everyone? Even if it was “just as friends,” there were too many misunderstandings and misinterpretations from the outside and somebody was bound to take it the wrong way -

“Actually, something like that could work,” Konoha started, but was overpowered by Onaga’s laughter and comment of, “Boys shouldn’t give chocolates to other boys on Valentine’s. Besides, it’d be easier and cheaper to buy chocolates _just_ for Shirofuku-san and Suzumeda-san. We don’t need a huge extravaganza or anything. I’m sure they’d appreciate the small gesture as ‘thank you’ from the team.”

“We can even get Coach Yamiji in on it!” Komi added.

Bokuto looked crestfallen. “But… a party would be so cool!” he whined, frowning at his team. “It’d be fun for everyone! C’mon, none of us are gonna get chocolates on Valentine’s Day except Akaashi. Why not make it fair for the rest of us!”

Akaashi raised his other eyebrow at Bokuto’s comment, but clearly he was out of the loop on something since everyone else was nodding in agreement — even Washio, who never agreed with Bokuto. Akaashi took to frowning at his teammates, wondering if they would explain it or just assume he knew what they were talking about.

“Fine fine fiiiiiine,” Bokuto sighed, defeated. “I _guess_ we can just do an informal exchange for them.” He perked up and shoved a finger at the team. “You lot have just over a week to get chocolates for our dear managers and you’re not allowed to slack it off! Get them something good to show your appreciation!”

With a series of murmured agreement and minor complaining from Onaga who didn’t have a job, the team broke off and meandered out of the club room. Konoha made Sarukui go with him back to the library to help him study as punishment for dragging him away from it in the first place. Onaga rushed out like a bolt of lightning to meet with some friends before first period. He did right as Akaashi was standing, almost tripping over him. Akaashi’s arm shot out to balance himself and felt his hand land firmly on… not the wall.

“You got your balance there?” Bokuto asked, hand firmly on Akaashi’s upper arm while Akaashi’s hand had landed against Bokuto’s chest. How had he even crossed the room that fast?

“Y-yeah, I got it,” Akaashi replied hurriedly, pulling himself away from Bokuto’s warmth. “Onaga-san was just in a hurry is all.” Akaashi kept his eyes trained down, not wanting to see any more of Bokuto’s face than he had to. His dream was rising in his mind fast, and Akaashi was worried that if he saw too much of Bokuto’s face in real life, dream-Bokuto might finally get an expression.

‘Worried’ was an understatement. Akaashi was terrified.

“You look kinda pale, have you eaten yet today? Your wonderful senpai will treat you to breakfast if not!” Bokuto said, voice strong and reassuring, unhidden with ulterior motives Akaashi felt like everyone else’s seemed to be. “Need you stay healthy if you’re gonna carry us to nationals again.”

Akaashi shook his head. _End this quickly_ , he thought. “I already ate. I suppose I… didn’t sleep well last night. I’ll feel better as the day goes on, please don’t worry about me, Bokuto-san.”

“Bokuuuto-kuuun,” Komi sang from beside them. “We gotta get ready for lab. Let’s goooo.”

From where he stood behind Komi, Washio laughed under his breath. “Hope you feel better, Akaashi. And thanks for setting Bokuto-kun’s insane plan straight.”

“Hey!” Bokuto snapped, glaring like a beast at Washio. “What’s that supposed to mean? Huh?!”

Attention shifted from Akaashi. Washio and Komi lead Bokuto from the club room, leaving Akaashi by himself. Akaashi breathed a sigh of relief and dropped his shoulders as he fell back into the chair, resting his head in his hands.

He didn’t know what he was going to do.

 

* * *

 

After practice, Akaashi stood in the single bathroom staring at his frame in the mirror. Everyone else was getting changed in the locker rooms post-showers, but Akaashi had given his usual excuse of, “Need to use the bathroom,” after cleaning himself and had escaped with his bag. Almost two years and he still couldn’t change in front of his team.

“So skinny,” he muttered as he tossed his jersey to the side, reaching for his uniform where it hung on the doorknob. “Too skinny.”

The uniform seemed to hang and tighten in all the wrong places, fat and curves filling it in where muscle and bulk did for others. When was he going to grow into his body? Akaashi was tired of looking so misshapen compared to his teammates. Even Onaga, a year younger, had grown taller and stronger.

Akaashi supposed he hated his legs and arms the most. They were so lanky and always getting in the way. His fingers were bony and good for nothing more than setting, and his feet got him where he was supposed to be — nothing else seemed to ever catch up. He hastily kicked his training shorts off his legs and jerked his uniform pants up, not evening allowing himself to judge that part of his reflection.

Akaashi finished up by splashing some cold water on his face and folding his jersey into a plastic bag before sliding it alongside his notebooks to bring home for washing. Taking one last look in the mirror to give his face a daily score — two out of ten, points towards the small curls in his hair — he emerged from the bathroom to a quiet gym and locker room. Shirofuku and Suzumeda’s bags were still near the door, so Akaashi assumed they were finishing stuff up in the club room and would lock the gym up later. With a sigh of relief that everyone else had gone for the day, Akaashi hurried out of the gym and out of school, glad to be on his way home.

As he turned the first corner as block from school, his phone buzzed three times in a row. Assuming it was the team group chat, Akaashi ignored it — but only until it buzzed three, four, five more times. At last he fished it from his pocket, wondering what could possibly be going on.

_[Bokuto-san]: OOHHH NNOOOOO_

_[Bokuto-san]: I FORGOT MY KNEEPADS_

_[Bokuto-san]: I NEEDED TO WASH THEM TOO_

_[Komi-san]: get rekt_

_[Bokuto-san]: DO I HAVE TO WALK ALL THE WAY BACK TO GET THEM?!?!?!_

_[Washio-san]: if someone nice is nearby, they can pick them up_

_[Sarukui]: not me, I got errands_

Akaashi’s fingers paused over the keyboard for a long moment, wondering if he should offer. He could practically still see the school from where he stood, so it made sense that he should suggest himself.

His thought process was interrupted by another buzz.

 _[Konoha-san]: I’m just at the convenience store a block away, I can get them since NO ONE ELSE WANTS TO APPARENTLY (_ ಠ ___ ಠ _))_

 _[Bokuto-san]: THANK YOU KONOHA!!!!! (_ ｡ _-_ 人 _-_ ｡ _)_

Akaashi smirked and continued walking towards home, glad the ordeal had been taken care of.

Some minutes later, with Akaashi’s house within sight, his phone buzzed again. Surprised by the disturbance of the silence, Akaashi withdrew it quickly to see if a new commotion had happened.

Instead he just found a single text from Washio directly to him.

_[Washio-san]: listen, it’s gonna get harder the longer you put it off. youve known him for a couple years now? just tell him how you feel. you gotta take the risk at this point. in a couple months you might never see each other again. sometimes it doesnt matter how close of friends you are, if you start walking different paths in life youre gonna fall apart. so just tell him._

Akaashi raised an eyebrow and wondered if Washio was a paranormal mind reader, because the way Washio had iterated this out-of-the-blue situation with sound advice was uncannily like the words Akaashi thought he needed to hear — if he actually worked up the courage to talk to anyone about it.

Before he could reply, he got two more notifications.

_[Washio-san]: sorry wrong person_

_[Washio-san]: that was meant for my sister lol_

Akaashi laughed aloud at that. Of course that had been the case — how silly of him to think Washio was a mind reader. The words had just hit too close to home. Then again, it made sense that someone else would be going through what Akaashi was thinking. It wasn’t like his situation was unique. Akaashi let the misfired text fall behind him.

_[Me]: No problem._

What was Akaashi going through? He didn’t think he could put it into words himself.

It had started off as hatred, he knew that much. Hatred and jealousy of Bokuto for having everything Akaashi didn’t — self confidence, expressions of joy, a solid if even naively positive view on the world. Akaashi couldn’t say he experienced any of those things. Sometimes, working up the courage to go to school was draining enough. Akaashi, when he first met Bokuto, couldn’t understand how someone else could simply be overflowing with radiant energy. Thus, Akaashi had hated Bokuto… until he got to know him. The more emotionally open Akaashi realized Bokuto was simply as a person, the more emotionally aware Akaashi became of his feelings towards Bokuto.

And Akaashi’s feelings were very cut-and-dry in this case, it almost wasn’t fair. Everything Akaashi had hated about his upperclassman had somehow metamorphosed into adoration into precious friend into…

_“Boys shouldn’t give chocolates to other boys on Valentine’s.”_

Akaashi sighed as he thought of the dream, of the seed of an idea that had somehow planted itself in his mind, unwanted. Confess your feelings on Valentine’s Day? How cliche. Just one more thing for him to hate about himself. There was no way he was going to do it, so he should just shut down the thought now before it tore him apart any more.

 

* * *

 

Akaashi was still lying awake with his thoughts when he heard the front door open and slam shut at one-thirty in the morning. His sister didn’t make much noise beyond closing doors and taking a shower. Only when he knew she was in bed did he roll over and actually try to fall asleep.

 

* * *

 

_[Kenma-kun]: dont take this the wrong way but I need your help buying chocolates_

Akaashi read the text during his lunch break the next day. He sat by himself, not wanting to wander too far from the classroom in case he ran into a teammate who kept him past the bell like they usually did. Finishing his green tea, Akaashi thought out a reply.

_[Me]: I don’t know if I’m the person to ask. I’ve never actually bought chocolates before. Who are they for?_

The reply was almost instantaneous.

_[Kenma-kun]: not important but that theyre just for someone important._

_[Kenma-kun]: so are you gonna help me or not_

_[Kenma-kun]: pls say yes I dont want to ask yaku or someone equally talkative_

Akaashi thought for a moment, remembered he didn’t have practice today anyway, and replied:

_[Me]: I can help you. I have to buy chocolates for my managers anyway, so a second opinion on my choices would be helpful._

_[Kenma-kun]: cool. thx_

 

Akaashi met Kenma outside Nekoma High, since Kenma had been kept late with a video game club meeting. It was weird to see Kenma without Kuroo, Akaashi noted. The two were usually inseparable, but today Kuroo had left for home early. Perhaps that had been why Kenma had asked Akaashi to accompany him chocolate hunting instead.

“Sorry for the wait, Keiji-kun,” Kenma said, pulling at his hoodie strings.

“It wasn’t long,” Akaashi replied. “Where did you have in mind?”

Kenma looked up, golden eyes clearly reading every detail of Akaashi’s face. “I was hoping you had an idea of a place to look at.”

“Oh… I didn’t.”

“Oh…”

They stood in silence for a minute, a stream of Nekoma students dividing around them, throwing the pair all sorts of curious looks. Did Akaashi really stand out that much? Even in this part of Tokyo? He hated it.

Akaashi and Kenma meandered to the side of the gates and took out their phones to search good stores that sold chocolate. The search lasted a solid twenty minutes before they decided on a small sweet shop that boasted a professional chocolatier. Satisfied, they started walking in comfortable silence.

After a minute, Kenma asked, “So… you need chocolate for your managers? Are you confessing to, like, both of them?”

Akaashi shook his head. “No. Bokuto-san had the idea that since we have a practice match on the fourteenth the team should all buy chocolates for our managers, who won’t get the afternoon to do anything special.”

“Huh. That’s nice actually.”

“What about you, Kenma-kun? Who are your chocolates for?”

Kenma fell into one of his special kinds of silences, the one where Akaashi knew he wouldn’t speak until he assumed the topic had been forgotten and he moved onto something new. Akaashi wouldn’t forget, of course, but he’d have to make Kenma think he had.

When they arrived at the sweet shop, they found it relatively empty, which was surprising considering Valentine’s Day was right around the corner and everyone was buying chocolate for everyone. The shop was cozy and smelled more of chocolate than anything else on the shelves. Kenma and Akaashi quickly found out this was because a corner of the store had been devoted to a man kneading and molding fresh, handmade chocolate on a marble slab. The rhythmic scraping was the shop’s music. The man didn’t acknowledge Kenma and Akaashi, so the pair took to watching the man silently work from a short ways away. It was hypnotizing, the way the man’s hands and arms turned, folding and gathering the chocolate that wanted anything than to be folded and gathered.

Akaashi wondered what it’d be like to make handmade chocolates for Bokuto…

After a while, Kenma wandered to peruse the chocolates on display near the front of the store, but Akaashi found himself rooted and enraptured by the chocolatier’s work. The chocolate moved silently, obeying the direction of the paddle only until it lifted, and then the chocolate would collapse back into a sticky heap as if it hadn’t moved at all. Akaashi tilted his head at this, wondering what then was the point of working the chocolate as such anyway. If the chocolate was simply going to retain its viscous state, why would the chocolatier put so much work into piling and swirling the chocolate.

“Keiji-kun, are you gonna pick something out?” Kenma interrupted out of the blue, jolting Akaashi back to the present, unaware of how long he had been staring at the chocolatier work.

“Yes, I should look around,” he agreed, tearing his gaze away from the chocolatier and noticing Kenma seemed to have already picked something out. It was a miscellaneous set of truffles in a gold and crimson box, a box that looked large in Kenma’s small, delicate hands. Akaashi wondered how much it cost and who in the world Kenma was getting it for.

The sets of Valentine’s Day chocolate displayed around the store were all beautifully crafted, and each seemed to hold a story. There were boxes decorated for every personality and relationship. Individual chocolates displayed spoke of careful and loving craft, each holding a special emotion that someone should feel honored to receive. Akaashi spotted the small tower that Kenma had chosen from, the price-tag reading ¥4500. Akaashi was more curious than ever.

Most of the chocolates were fairly pricy, but Akaashi found a selection of ¥500 and ¥1000 boxes that would do well for his managers, especially considering he was purchasing two. Still, Akaashi found his eyes wandering to Kenma’s box and boxes like it, sets of chocolate climbing from ¥3000 and upwards, even into the ¥9000 and ¥10,000 price range. Akaashi wondered not only who could afford those, but who would one give them to.

The latter part Akaashi knew the answer to. It was the kind of gift he’d want to give to Bokuto if he had the spine for it — but giving Bokuto chocolates in the first place would only spread all the kinds of negative rumors. And even if Bokuto wasn’t insulted? It would surely ruin their friendship and Akaashi would be ostracized from the team.

No, he couldn’t have that. He ripped his gaze from the chocolates.

At the register, Akaashi and Kenma found themselves facing the chocolatier from before, who had paused his project to check them out. He was a rough looking man, with a stubbled face and unkempt hair tied under a filthy bandana, chocolate crusted under his nails and around the wedding ring on his finger.

“Lets’see… ¥4500 for this one, since yer a student, I’ll knock it down to ¥3500,” he said to Kenma, voice scratchy probably from smoking — there was a faint hint of cigarettes clinging to his clothes, a scent Akaashi was quite familiar with. The chocolatier took Kenma’s cash and dished out the change with little more to say. Kenma thanked him and clutched the paper bag of his purchase close to his chest rather than putting it in his school bag, as if it were some precious treasure.

“And fer you… even ¥1100,” the man said to Akaashi. The two boxes Akaashi had chosen were cheap, but he supposed they’d do for his managers. They’d be getting chocolates from everyone else anyway. “That it?”

Akaashi blinked at the man. “Pardon?”

“I asked ya if this’s it.” He gestured to the boxes. “You were eyein’ up the expensive ones, was wonderin’ if this was all you were setlin’ for.”

Akaashi looked awkwardly to the side, feeling heat creep up his neck and into his cheeks. “Well, I was looking at them, but I can’t buy them.”

“Too expensive? I’ll give ya a discount since yer a student and all.”

Akaashi shook his head. “No, that’s not it.” He struggled to find the words to explain himself without spilling everything, which should have been easy but was proving otherwise. Now even Kenma was giving him a curious look from the side. “I just… can’t buy chocolates for someone who… I guess I _would_ like to buy chocolates for, but… I can’t because these chocolates…”

The man waved his hand and growled something. Akaashi assumed his message had finally gotten across, but instead the chocolatier said, “Fine then, if my chocolates aren’t good enough for ya, then you come in and make ‘em yourself.” He swiped Akaashi’s cash from the countertop and completed the original transaction. “Come in tomorrow and I’ll teach ya that chocolates with a story are the one’s that mean the most.” He gestured to Kenma. “This kid gets it.”

Once outside the store, feeling light with confusion, Akaashi turned to Kenma and asked, “Did you… understand what he was talking about, Kenma-kun?”

Kenma shrugged. “I think so.”

When he didn’t elaborate, Akaashi didn’t push it.

 

* * *

 

_“B… Bokuto-san… I know this may seem… out of the ordinary… even so, I was hoping that…” Akaashi stopped, swallowing hard. His hands were sweating bullets; his entire body stood on uneven ground, a small gust of wind liable to push him to his knees. The small, red box tied shut with a shiny, silver ribbon felt slick in his hands where he held it behind his back. He fumbled to keep it in his grasp, overly aware of how heavy it was compared to his origami legs; how bright it was compared to his dull expression._

_“That you might… accept… this…” Trailing off, Akaashi moved his hands like rusty cogs to hand the box of chocolates to Bokuto._

_Only now Akaashi’s hands were covered in slick, warm chocolate. It oozed out of sleeves and dripped down his fingers, falling to the floor in angry, dark splats. The laughter was back, and when Akaashi looked up he found not Bokuto, but the chocolatier standing before him. The old man was glaring._

_“Yer a coward,” he snarled._

 

Akaashi awoke to his alarm going off in his ear, which threw him into a panic because he was _never_ woken up by his alarm. His body had attuned itself to wake up exactly five minutes before so he could shut it off and not wake his sister.

Bleary eyed from weariness and the dream, he fumbled with his phone and squinted at the screen, trying to find the snooze button.

Only there wasn’t a snooze button, because the clock read 1:45am and Bokuto was calling him.

Confused but too out of it to even think of hitting decline, Akaashi answered. “Bokuto-san?” he mumbled in greeting, trying to sit up in bed. “What are you doing up at this hour?”

 _“Nnnnnnnnaaaaaaaa,”_ Bokuto slurred — slurred? — incoherently in reply. _“It’sssssssoooooo early… Why’re you awake right now?”_

Akaashi frowned and pinched his nose, trying to wake up. “You’re the one who called me, Bokuto-san.”

 _“Hmm… riiiiiiight, right I did, that was me…”_ Bokuto sighed deeply. _“You get me so well… you even knew I called you… wow…”_

Akaashi was just tired enough to lack the patience to put up with the conversation. “Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said sternly, “why are you calling me at nearly two in the morning? You should be asleep, like I was.”

Bokuto slurred a name followed by, _“I’m sorryyyyyy.”_ What sounded like hiccups of tears came from the other end of the phone. Akaashi sat up straighter.

“Bokuto-san… what’s wrong?” he asked, making his voice more gentle. “Did something happen at home?”

Bokuto sniffed. _“No… no I’m okay…”_

Well that was clearly a lie. Akaashi’s free hand fiddled with his toes beneath the blanket. Bokuto was also acting more childish than usual, as if he were -

“Bokuto-san, are you drunk?”

 _“Akaashi is so pretty! I’m jealous!”_ Bokuto exclaimed. _“It’ssss… intim… intini… intantidating… How can I tell him anything if… if… if I can’t barely even look at him when I tell him stuff… Washio what do I do?!”_

Akaashi felt his phone slipping from his hands. In a blind panic Akaashi slammed the ‘end call’ button and pushed his phone to the side, staring blankly at the wall as his heart raced a hundred kilometers an hour. His fatigued brain did it’s best to sort out and make sense of the information, but was failing extensively at anything beyond repeating, _“Akaashi is so pretty!”_

Him…?

Pretty…?

Not only that, but it was _Bokuto_ of all people who thought that — and he had called _Washio_ to say as much.

Akaashi fumbled for his phone again, bringing up Washio in his contacts, fingers hovering over the keyboard as he tried to sort out words to write. What would he even say? ‘Hey, Bokuto called me at 2am. I think he was drunk and meant to call you. Can you make sure he’s alright’? But then Washio would wonder why Akaashi had just hung up and not taken care of Bokuto himself.

“Kei-chan, everything alright?” the sleepy voice of his sister said from the doorway. Her silhouette was rubbing her eyes.

Akaashi sighed quietly, wishing she slept heavier during the four or so hours she even actually slept. “Yeah, I’m alright. Sorry, a friend called out of the blue. Sorry to wake you, nee-san.”

She waved a sleepy hand. “No worries, just wanted to make sure. I worry about you, you know?”

“I know, nee-san.”

“Good night, Kei-chan.”

“Good night, nee-san.”

 

* * *

 

For what felt like the first time in his life, Akaashi awoke to the sound of his alarm — his actual alarm. Despite it being the weekend, he always got up as if he were going to school, which his sister had always berated him for.

_“Just sleep in! It’s the weekend. Relax a little.”_

Akaashi always found it funny how she said that despite waking up special at six-am to go to third part-time job. She never relaxed, why should Akaashi?

Grabbing his phone, he slugged his way down the stairs to the cold kitchen. There was a covered breakfast with a note of: _I knew you’d be getting up at the normal time~ Here’s some eggs and miso soup from my breakfast, enjoy~_ ☆

Sitting down, Akaashi lit up his phone to check the time -

\- and was met by three missed calls — two from Washio, one from Bokuto — and twenty-two unread text messages.

The event of last night came back to him like a clap of thunder. Akaashi looked at the welcoming breakfast and decided he couldn’t stomach it. He moved to the couch and listened to the missed calls first. He had to get this over with now.

_“Three new messages. First message: Tatsuki Washio at two-twenty-four-AM — Hey Akaashi-kun! Tatsuki Washio here. Sorry to call at such an odd hour, I really hope you’re sleeping through this. I just wanted to apologize for the mishap last night. If you can, it’d be wonderful and in all our best interests if you could forget about what happened last night. Thank you for understanding, and sorry for the blow up of notifications you’re about to get.”_

_“Three new messages. Second message: Tatsuki Washio at three-forty-four-AM — Hello again, Akaashi-kun! Sorry to call again, it’s me, Tatsuki Washio. Just calling to give a more sincere apology from myself and Bokuto-kun. He’s really sorry about calling you so early in the morning. We both wish we could explain the situation, but Bokuto-kun isn’t ready. He promises to tell you someday, though, okay? I hope you can understand.”_

_Understand what?_ Akaashi thought, albeit with a pinch of bitterness. What was he being left out on? He felt like he had a right to know after last night.

_“Three new messages. Third message: Captain Bokuto at six-fifty-one-AM — AKAASHI I AM SO SORRY ABOUT LAST NIGHT! I KNOW YOU’RE PROBABLY REALLY MAD BUT PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I’LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING LATER, BUT PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR NOW! THANK YOU! — End of messages.”_

Akaashi found himself staring numbly out the outline of the window in the early morning light, blinds still closed and covered in winter dust. Bokuto had called him not fifteen minutes ago and he had slept solidly through it, something he almost wished he had done last night at one-forty-five. However, another part of him was glad the call had woken him up. A tiny, sinful part of him was coveting the mistake Bokuto had made that had pulled Akaashi ever so closer to his world.

He clutched his phone to his chest and let the smile inch across his face. The rational side of him felt maniacal that he would be happy in such an obviously distressing situation, but another part of him was _ecstatic_ , because now Akaashi knew that Bokuto thought _he_ was _pretty_! Bokuto always had his heart on his sleeve, but for once he had had his heart on his tongue — and Akaashi had been witness to that truth.

Once the smile had pulled itself across his face and he had even giggled a little bit, Akaashi turned to the awaiting text messages.

_[Washio-kun]: I am so sorry, Akaashi-kun_

_[Washio-kun]: this was Bokuto’s mistake so I don't know why I’m apologizing_

_[Washio-kun]: but anyway, I’m still sorry_

_[Washio-kun]: Actually, I’ll just call you one sec_

_[Washio-kun]: ok you didn’t pick up you probably fell back asleep_

_[Washio-kun]: that’s totally alright, I don’t blame you_

_[Washio-kun]: but when you see these, use them as a preemptive warning_

_[Washio-kun]: to the calls I mean_

_[Washio-kun]: so I’ve been talking to Bokuto and I called you again, sorry about that_

_[Washio-kun]: don’t be alarmed if you see him call you too_

_[Washio-kun]: he’s really sorry. he’s so sorry it’s almost funny lol_

_[Washio-kun]: nevermind, I shouldn’t be laughing_

_[Washio-kun]: anyway, please take what I said in my calls to heart, and I’ll see you in school on Monday! don’t forget to get chocolate for Shirofuku and Suzumeda if you haven’t already!_

Akaashi snorted slightly at Washio’s messages before flipping to the ones from Bokuto

_[Bokuto-san]: AKAASHI I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THAT_

_[Bokuto-san]: IT WAS AN ACCIDENT IM SO SORRY_

_[Bokuto-san]: IM GONNA CALL YOU JUST TO TELL YOU HOW SORRY I AM_

_[Bokuto-san]: THERE I CALLED YOU I HOPE I DIDNT WAKE YOU UP_

_[Bokuto-san]: I DONT REMEMBER ANYTHING I SAID BEFORE BUT PLEASE DONT BLACKMAIL ME WITH IT THATS JUST NOT COOL D:_

_[Bokuto-san]: OKAY ILL LET YOU SLEEP NOW_

_[Bokuto-san]: I HOPE WERE NORMAL ON MONDAY_

_[Bokuto-san]: AGAIN I AM SO SO SO SORRY :(((((_

Akaashi was smothering laughter into his palm by the end of reading them. How could Bokuto be so… well, so ‘Bokuto’ even in hangover text messaging? Akaashi had truly never seen this side of Bokuto let alone stopped to think it even existed. Part of him knew he should be concerned, but that was the side also rationalized by the fact that _surely_ Bokuto had just gotten too rowdy with his already rowdy family.

Jumping to his feet, Akaashi inhaled the food his sister had left before running upstairs to get dressed in casual clothes, clothes he hadn’t touched in years because he never went out aside from school and volleyball. Now, he didn’t find himself thinking twice about how he looked or how his body felt. He just got dressed and hurried out the door with nothing but his wallet and phone, feet swiftly taking him back to the chocolatier.

 

* * *

 

“Uh… Yer here much earlier than I thought ya would be,” the chocolatier said with a dumbfounded expression, hand suspended where he was turning the store sign from ‘closed’ to ‘open.’ “Ya didn’t run here, did ya?”

Akaashi, sweating and quite out of breath, only nodded. “I want you to teach me how to make chocolates.” He took a deep breath and bowed. “Please, sensei, no other chocolates will do.”

The man was silent for a long time before bursting into hearty laughter. “No problem my boy!  Don’t ask how I knew ya’d come — it’s clear you got a story tell, why don’t we put it into some chocolate then!”

Akaashi straightened and gave the man a small smile of gratitude before following him inside. Walking into the shop was like walking into a brick wall of smells, the most powerful being that of chocolate. The scent wasn’t as overpowering as Akaashi remembered it being, but perhaps that was also because no one was working with the fresh chocolate yet.

“Ai-chan!” the man called out, and a girl around Akaashi’s age popped up from behind the counter, seemingly out of nowhere. “I got a student today, so you run the shop.”

The girl frowned deeply, squinting ominously through her bangs. “But Reo-chan is coming over today and you said we could go out this afternoon! I never see her anymore since the transfer…”

“Reo-san can hang out here, no problem. Kid probably can’t stay long anyway.” The chocolatier turned to Akaashi. “Actually, what’s your name again? Totally forgot already.”

“Keiji Akaashi,” Akaashi introduced. “I’m a second-year at Fukurōdani Academy. And I can stay until the chocolate is finished.”

“Fukurōdani, eh? Bit far from home. Whatever.” He gestured for Akaashi to follow him to a back room. “C’mon then, we’re burning daylight. Time don’t slow down for no one even if you ‘got all day.’”

The backroom of the shop was stacked to the ceiling with boxes of merchandise that all smelled heavenly, but cramped together the novelty of the scent faded fast, leaving Akaashi more sick to his stomach than in awe. Thankfully, he was lead past the boxes and to a narrow flight of stairs that lead up into a cozy little living room.

“You live above the shop, sensei?” Akaashi asked, looking around, taking in the kotatsu quilt patterned with chocolate bars and the numerous plants hanging from the ceiling.

“My niece and I do, aye,” he replied. “That’d be Ai-chan, by the way, the rude little squirt downstairs.” He laughed to himself, clearly fond of the girl despite the insults. “She’s actually the same age as you. I’ll probably be helping her with her chocolates tomorrow, actually, since she still can’t make them herself without burning my beautiful pans.” He shook his head in dismay as he lead Akaashi to the small kitchen, and Akaashi was thoroughly lost.

“Alright, we’re gonna make this the old fashioned way, ya hear? No powder, that’s the sissy’s way. We’re gonna use beans!” Dramatically, the chocolatier whipped out a large jar filled with dark cocoa beans, which Akaashi didn’t think he’d even seen before.

“I… don’t think I’m following,” Akaashi began slowly. “We aren’t going to use the marble slab downstairs like you were using yesterday?”

The man shook his head. “For the amount you’re making, no way. Besides, that’s for _professionals only_. Not even my dear Ai-chan can touch my baby. Instead, you’re gonna use this one.” The chocolatier then withdrew a smaller marble slab from the shelves above the countertop. Akaashi found himself looking longer at the shelves than the slab, however, as the shelves were precariously packed with a multitude of things — Akaashi was amazed the man had even pulled the slab out without all of it coming crashing down.

“First thing: roast the beans.” The chocolatier heaved a huge sigh. “Something even my own niece can’t do so I expect you to do better! She never had someone to make chocolates for before, but you do, so don’t mess this up.”

 _No pressure_ , Akaashi thought. Aloud, he said, “Right,” and nodded.

“So what special someone you makin’ the chocolates for?” the chocolatier asked as Akaashi shifted the beans around the pan gently. “Special lady friend? Already datin’ or still gotta confess?”

Akaashi smirked. “No.”

“Ah, not a girl then? Special boy?”

Akaashi’s composure slipped for a second before he covered it with a laugh. “Of course not… Boys don’t give other boys chocolate, especially on Valentine’s day.”

The man was silent. When Akaashi raised his eyes, he found the chocolatier staring at him with an unreadable look — but Akaashi knew the chocolatier wasn’t persuaded. In all honesty, Akaashi was sure he was trying to convince himself more so than the other man. Akaashi went back to making sure the cocoa beans didn’t burn.

 

“Now this is the tedious part, so follow me closely, kay?” the chocolatier said, voice laden with seriousness as he handed a small, heavy hammer to Akaashi. “Yer gonna crack each bean into its nib and then winnow it, to get rid of the husks.”

“Every bean?”

“Every _single_ bean.”

Akaashi looked hard at the several hundred beans sitting in the warm pan. Swallowing, he readied the hammer, and with the chocolatier over his shoulder guiding him the whole time, he got to work.

 

“Oh, so this is why we needed so many beans,” Akaashi murmured as he worked up a sweat grinding the cocoa nibs into what the chocolatier had called ‘cocoa liquor.’ What had seemed like too many beans for only a couple molds of chocolate now seemed like too little.

But Akaashi trusted the chocolatier.

The pestle and mortar that Akaashi worked with was old and worn from years of use — still, it did the job it was meant for. Akaashi wondered how many batches of chocolates this specific pestle and mortar had seen. The chocolatier sported several sets sitting to the side on the window sill, displayed with a finesse nothing else in the kitchen seemed to have.

“Gonna tell me who the chocolates are for yet?” the chocolatier asked the silence. Akaashi didn’t answer. This was the fifth time he had been interrogated on the matter.

 

“Now, we _could_ measure all this, but where’s the fun in that?” The chocolatier chuckled to himself as he handed various spoons to Akaashi. “We’re gonna eyeball this batch. Builds character for the chocolate, ya know?” Akaashi didn’t know, but he nodded anyway.

“So does yer sweetheart like his— _their_ chocolate sweet or bitter? Somewhere in between? Or should I let you just have at it with the sugar since you obviously know ‘em best.”

Akaashi glared at the chocolatier’s alleged slip of the tongue, but didn’t comment on it.

“I guess I’ll… eyeball it.”

“Ya know? I’d usually tell my dear Ai-chan that guessing is the surefire way to ruin anything — but yer obviously questioning a lot of things right now, for it’ll be fine for guessing as long as its you.” The chocolatier winked. Akaashi narrowed his eyes.

 

Only when the chocolatier pulled out a huge machine did Akaashi question exactly what he had got himself into.

“Um, what is that?” he inquired as the chocolatier set the equipment up on the kitchen counter.

“This baby is my _stone chocolate melanger_ ,” the chocolatier replied with a satisfied and proud grin, as if he were showing off his own child. “This is what you’ll use to conche and refine yer chocolate before ya mold it.” He held out his hands and Akaashi got ready for a lecture. “ _Conching_ affects the taste, smell, and texture of yer chocolate, while _refining_ affects consistency of flavour. Easily, this makes it the most important step of the process.” He held up a finger. “Yer gonna use this to start, then finish it up on the slab before melting and molding.”

Akaashi rolled up his sleeves where he had let them fall. “Alright. I get it.”

The chocolatier grinned at Akaashi. “Wonderful. But for this I’m gonna have to get a time frame from ya. How long do ya want to conche and refine yer chocolate? Anywhere from ten to thirty hours is normal.”

Akaashi thought for a long moment before finally answering, “Eighteen.”

The chocolatier didn’t press for an explanation, but Akaashi suspected the man already knew Akaashi had chosen the number based on Bokuto’s age.

 

Two hours into the process, the chocolatier made Akaashi take a break and go downstairs to check on Ai, insisting he could watch the chocolate in the meantime — he had stayed awake for much longer than a “mere eighteen hours” during this process. Akaashi marveled at the chocolatier’s iron will and gladly took the opportunity for the break.

On his way down the stairs, he heard voices from the shop. He assumed it was customers, so he hovered on the last step and leaned around it, trying to see out the small window of the door between the backroom and the shop. He couldn’t make out much, but he thought he could see Ai speaking to someone. Curious, he dared to wander closer.

“ - been a whole week! Let me do it!” Ai was whining, speaking too familiarly for her to be addressing a customer. Akaashi peered through the dusty window to make out who he believed was another girl — perhaps the girl named Reo whom Ai had spoken of earlier.

“It’s the middle of business hours, Ai-chan,” the other replied, voice calm and stern, but still filled with affection. It reminded Akaashi of how his sister sometimes spoke to him.

“No one’s here and oji-san’s upstairs helping a student! Pleeeeease? Just one?”

Akaashi smiled at the thought of what the interaction must look like. Ai and Reo must be really good friends. He wondered what Ai wanted to do with Reo.

Deciding to not lurk any longer, Akaashi pushed the door open, making Ai scream in surprise. He quickly apologized and bowed, all but begging forgiveness at frightening her. Ai hurriedly accepted the apology as she caught her breath, cursing quietly.

“Ah, are you the student Ai spoke of?” the other girl, whom Akaashi assumed was Reo, asked. She spoke very sweetly, voice akin to honey. Akaashi found that he could only nod.

“ _And_ the reason we couldn’t go out today,” Ai muttered, resting her elbows on the counter and her chin in her hands.

“At least we could still see each other, Ai,” Reo replied sweetly, reaching across the counter to brush a stray piece of hair back behind Ai’s ear. “And then it’ll only be another week before we see each other again. Oh! That reminds me.” Reo fished her phone from her pocket and showed something to Ai, who immediately brightened like a floodlight.

“Really?!” she asked. When Reo nodded, Ai squealed and ran around the counter to throw herself into Reo’s arms, who returned the embrace warmly. “That’s so awesome! I get to see you for even longer! Though I’d love to see you all the time, I can settle for this for now!”

“I’m glad,” Reo giggled. Feeling like he was interrupting something, Akaashi retreated to the backroom and back up the stairs.

“Short break, then?” the chocolatier commented. “What was with all that screaming down there? Someone get murdered?”

“Uh, I believe Reo-san is here. She showed Ai-san some good news,” Akaashi replied vaguely, only to be pushed from the doorway by Ai a second later.

“Reo can stay for dinner!” she shouted, not even acknowledging Akaashi. Akaashi was starting to get more and more of the impression that Ai was treating him like a detested family member than her uncle’s student. Akaashi found he wasn’t entirely upset about it.

“I got no food for all of ya!” the chocolatier grunted. “If she’s gonna stay, go out and get groceries for all of us — including the boy! He’s here until the chocolate is finished.”

“Fine fine, someone’s gotta watch the store then!” she sang as she hurried back down the stairs.

The chocolatier shook his head. “I lover ‘er, but she’s gonna be the death of me.”

 

Akaashi was tasked with watching the chocolate while the chocolatier ran the shop. It was straight forward work: he just watched the chocolate and made sure the machine’s blades didn’t get gunked up from too much sugar or butter. Akaashi spent most of the time on his phone, letting his sister know that he’d be out late. She replied with a series of winky faces. Some hours later, Ai and Reo returned with groceries and souvenirs of flowers they had picked at the local park. Akaashi was worried about how dinner would be prepared with his chocolate project taking up the entire, small kitchen, but Ai waved his concerns away with a flick of her hand before pulling out several portable cooking devices.

“Oji-san makes chocolate up here a lot, so I figured out how to work around that pretty early on,” Ai gave in way of an explanation. Akaashi could only nod.

Akaashi entertained himself with watching Ai and Reo prepare dinner. It became clear that Ai had little cooking experience, so she was tasked with making the rice while Reo took charge of preparing cold soba and beef. By the time they were finishing up, the room was a heavenly mix of chocolate and steamed noodles — a combination Akaashi never thought would smell good, but somehow it did.

 

The sweet shop closed soon after and the chocolatier emerged from downstairs.

“Ahh, I’m famished! What’s on the menu?”

“Rice and cold soba with beef!” Ai sang as she and Reo set the table.

“No miso soup? What kind of dinner is this that it doesn’t have miso soup?”

Ai and Reo were silent and only exchanged glances with each other before shrugging. The chocolatier sighed in defeat and relented to his dinner without miso soup. Calling Akaashi over too, the four of them sat down, said thanks, and dug in.

Throughout the whole meal, Akaashi watched Ai and Reo, both of whom sat close to each other, legs probably touching under the table. _Childhood friends, perhaps?_ he thought, thinking of the similarities between Ai and Reo’s relationship to and Kenma and Kuroo’s. It definitely had to be a childhood friend thing.

“Where do you go to school, Akaashi-san?” Reo asked near the end of the meal.

“Fukurōdani Academy,” Akaashi replied. “I’m a second year there.”

“Oh, really?” she said, surprise lighting her eyes. “Do you perchance know Akinori Konoha? He’s a third year and on the volleyball team.”

“I do, we’re teammates,” Akaashi replied, thinking of the upperclassman who always seemed to be frowning at everything everyone did. “How do you know him?”

“Oh! I never introduced myself properly, did I?” She giggled in embarrassment and Ai rolled her eyes. “My name is Reo Konoha. Akinori-chan is my older brother.” Now that she mentioned it, Akaashi could see the similarities in appearance between them, though their personalities were completely different. “We don’t go to the same school anymore, though,” she added, but immediately grew awkward. Before Akaashi could assure her that she could stop if she wanted, she continued, “I moved with my mother to just outside Tokyo.”

“It’s also why she doesn’t see me anymore,” Ai added haughtily, shifting the conversation away from the awkward topic. “I go to Itachiyama Academy, which is _so_ far away from Reo’s new school. It’s not fair! I want to see Reo too…”

Reo laughed and put a hand on Ai’s shoulder. “Only for a couple more years, then we can be together again.”

Akaashi finished his meal in silence.

 

Late into the night — long after the table had been cleaned, Reo had left for home, and Ai had fallen into a coma-like slumber in a side room — Akaashi approached the chocolatier.

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking…” he started slowly, knitting his fingers together, “Ai-chan and Reo-chan… they’re more than friends, aren’t they?”

The chocolatier turned to him with an expression of ‘isn’t it obvious?’ “Well, yeah, they’re dating. What of it?”

Akaashi couldn’t hide the shock from his face. “Oh, nothing. Just… wondering.”

“That being said, ya still not gonna tell me who the chocolates’re for?”

Akaashi sighed and shook his head. The chocolatier only nodded.

 

It was easily past midnight when the eighteen hour countdown ended. On the mark, Akaashi knew the chocolate was finished. A minute more or a minute less and it would not have been the same as it was now. The chocolatier praised Akaashi on knowing as much.

“Work it yerself now,” he said. “Just a little on the slab. This is how you _feel_ it and shape it’s story before it’s even in the mold. The mold is important, yes, but working it yerself is the most important part of the process.”

Akaashi took the rubber paddle and poured the chocolate onto the warm slab. He didn’t know what he was doing or if he was doing anything right, but the chocolatier had given him no direction, which Akaashi suspected had been on purpose.

So Akaashi worked the chocolate, folding it over and over itself, pushing it from the edge and working out imaginary knots. It was unlike anything Akaashi had ever worked before, which was a short list to begin with. After a while, he imagined it as if he were setting a volleyball: adjusting the paddle as if he were adjusting his wrists, moving the chocolate as he rolled the ball off the pads of his fingers, imagining all too clearly the delivery of the set to Bokuto’s outstretched hands as the chocolate was piled on top of itself.

Sometime later, Akaashi stopped and set the paddle down. “It’s finished.”

The chocolatier nodded somewhere behind him. “It sure is.”

 

Akaashi passed out on the armchair for a couple hours while the chocolatier finished up the process. _“This part ain’t intimate, so I got it. You get some shuteye.”_ Akaashi had gladly accepted.

Much too soon, he was shaken awaken by the chocolatier.

“Turned out better than you can imagine,” he said, voice filled with delight. “The molds were perfect for the consistency, you definitely have a knack for this.” He grinned. “If ya got nothing better to do over the summer, ya should work for me!”

Akaashi smiled tiredly. “I’ll think about it, thank you so much for your kindness. I don’t even know how to begin to thank you for all you’ve done.”

“Reward me by telling me how it goes.” He held out a plain, red box, unadorned and undecorated. “Set it in yer fridge until you mean to deliver it. It ain’t totally set yet, so be careful on yer way home. It’s time ya get home anyway.” Akaashi only nodded and thanked him one more time.

“Still can’t tell me who they’re for?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Have a good night then, kid.”

“Tell Ai-san thank you as well.”

“Will do, kid.”

 

* * *

 

“Pst, Kei-chaaaan?”

“Mm?”

“It’s almost two in the afternoon. I know you were out all night, but you gotta get up at some point. Also I want to know what the fancy chocolate in the fridge is.”

Akaashi bolted upright and looked his sister dead in the eye. “You didn’t eat it, did you?”

She chuckled, pushing hair behind her ears. “Nah, I figured it must be for someone else. If it was for me I know you would have hidden it better.” She poked his shoulder as he slid back to his warm and welcoming pillow. “So? Gonna tell me who it’s for?”

“No.”

“Suit yourself.” She stood and headed towards the door. “Breakfast is still good for whenever you want it. Or lunch. Or whatever,” she said over her shoulder. “Get up before you waste the day away!”

“Nnn.”

 

* * *

 

When Akaashi woke up Monday morning, he realized he had blown off his entire weekend and not done any of his homework. In a blind rush, he skipped the breakfast his sister had left him and hurried to school, hoping to snag a corner of the library to finish up the work before first period. Thankfully the library was fairly empty for a Monday morning, and Akaashi settled down to blow through his work.

“Never see you here, Akaashi-kun,” a familiar voice said. Akaashi looked up to see Konoha sliding into the chair across from him. “Usually it’s just me cramming my homework in last minute. Busy weekend?”

“Good morning, Konoha-san; and yes, something like that,” Akaashi greeted.

“You should tell me about it later. Was probably better than mine.” Konoha laughed and Akaashi noted the bags under his friend’s eyes.

“I met your sister by chance,” Akaashi said. “Reo-san.”

“Reo-chan, seriously? You must have been seriously out and about this past weekend.” Konoha laughed. “I’m glad you two are acquainted. She’s a sweet girl. Wish I got to see her more often.”

Akaashi thought of how Reo had said she was living with her mother and didn’t attend Fukurōdani anymore. Akaashi wondered if Konoha lived with his father or even alone. Akaashi didn’t know much about his teammates familial situations and had never bothered to find out. He was curious now, after meeting Reo, but he also knew he didn’t want other’s digging into his situation. Akaashi turned back to his work.

“She seems to be doing well,” was all he said. Konoha nodded, but a small smile had creeped onto his face.

 

* * *

 

The days passed as normal. Classes were normal and practice was normal. Bokuto never approached Akaashi about the incident from Friday night, but it continued to gnaw at the back of Akaashi’s mind — but he was unable to do anything about it until Wednesday practice.

Once he had changed in the bathroom as usual, Akaashi left for home. Not a block away, the team group chat started blowing up. Reading quickly through the messages, it seemed Bokuto had left his kneepads at the gym again.

Akaashi sighed and looked behind him where he could still see the school. Guess it could be his duty this time. He thought of the praise Bokuto would likely lay on him for coming to his aid. The thought made Akaashi smile and stomach jump with excitement.

_[Me]: I’m still close to the school, I can pick them up. I have to wash my own uniform anyway._

_[Washio-san]: lol Akaashi to Bokuto’s rescue as usual lol_

_[Sarukui-san]: lololololol_

Akaashi couldn’t say he knew what they meant by that, but he shrugged it off and turned back towards the school. His sister was going to be home past midnight as usual, so it wasn’t like anyone would miss him if he was home later than normal.

The school lights had all been shut off now, all the clubs evicted and the buildings locked up. Akaashi knew where Bokuto hid the spare gym key, though, a ‘just in case’ for instances like now. Akaashi had argued against it before, but he supposed he wouldn’t be able to anymore.

The gym was eerie in complete darkness. Using his phone as a flashlight, Akaashi hurried across the squeaky floorboards to the locker rooms, daring to turn on those lights to make searching easier. The search was short, thankfully. Bokuto’s kneepads were laid neatly out on the benches, completely in sight but completely out of Bokuto’s mind. Akaashi couldn’t even fault Bokuto for it, he knew the upperclassman too well at this point.

Setting his bag down, Akaashi reached for the kneepads and folded them together, but paused before placing them in his bag. Looking around the locker room to make sure he wasn’t secretly being watched, Akaashi slowly lifted the taut fabric to his nose, inhaling the idiosyncratic scent of Bokuto. Akaashi tried hard not to think about how the kneepads hugged Bokuto’s legs and drank up his sweat and rubbed the skin on his inner thighs -

A breath shuddered out of Akaashi and he lowered the kneepads, quickly stuffing them in his bag and zipping it shut. Even though he knew he was alone, the thought of being caught doing such an indecent thing… it paralyzed part of him, but excited something else he couldn’t put his finger on. Akaashi didn’t know what was happening to him, but he knew that at this exact moment he wanted nothing more than to be with Bokuto, to have Bokuto’s hands weaving through his hair and sliding down his neck -

Akaashi hurried from the locker room, holding the key painfully tight in one hand, letting the teeth bite into his palm, his other hand gripping his backpack strap as if his life depended on it. He tried to walk faster than his thoughts and leave them behind, but his mind was moving quicker than his feet and his heart was going even faster. He tried to rationalize it: how could it possibly be right to lust after another man? Yet he was doing it anyway. If it was happening, surely there was a modicum of truth to his feelings.

Opening the gym door, Akaashi’s heart leapt into his throat as he found Bokuto pacing around outside.

Bokuto yelped in surprise, spinning around to find Akaashi standing there. Akaashi felt like his entire body was on fire, his brain short circuiting at the manifestation of his thoughts and desires standing directly before him.

“Akaashi!” Bokuto exclaimed. “If I had known you were in there I would have just gone in, but there wasn’t any key and my phone died so I didn’t know if anyone had gone back so I thought someone had stolen the key so I was pacing around trying to figure out what to do - ”

“Bokuto-san you scared the living stars out of me!” Akaashi interrupted, flustered enough to let loose a fraction of emotion into his voice. He held a hand against his heart beating out of his chest.

“Sorry, Akaashi!” Bokuto cried as Akaashi closed the gym behind him, locking it and replacing the key to it’s hiding spot. “I should’ve known someone had come back, someone always does, but this time I was close by so I thought I’d do it myself.”

“It’s not a problem, Bokuto-san. The team always takes care of you,” Akaashi assured, feeling like a robot as he unzipped his bag and removed the kneepads. “Since you’re here, here you go.”

“Aaaakaaaashiiiii, thank youuuu!” Bokuto sang, voice still sad but beginning to light up. “I’ll treat you to ice cream or something as a thank you.”

“There’s still snow on the ground, Bokuto-san.”

“Hot chocolate then.”

“…Alright.”

Bokuto smiled brightly, lighting up the world as if the sun had never set. “Yay! It’s a date then!” Bokuto started humming as he headed towards the school gates, Akaashi a step behind like he always was.

Akaashi hadn’t seen Bokuto outside practice, so being with his captain without thinking of volleyball left room for many other thoughts — like his kneepads, like his romantic interests, like the night he had mistakenly drunk-called Akaashi…

At the school gates, before Bokuto could turn to say farewell, Akaashi said, “Bokuto-san… is everything alright?”

“Hm?” Bokuto turned to him, cocking his head to the side. “Why do you ask?”

 _No yes or no… just “why do you ask?”_ Akaashi felt his heart deflate a little as he wondered how Bokuto was actually doing. “Because… you called me at two in the morning. Drunk. I think… I deserve to know why.”

Bokuto’s light was fading fast into fidgeting unease. “Uh, well, I didn’t mean to… I guess I thought I was calling Washio… You’re not… mad at me, are you?”

Akaashi shook his head quickly. “No no, I’m not mad. Just confused… and concerned. I want to make sure you’re alright.”

Bokuto laughed nervously. “And here I thought you had been ignoring me because of what happened. Outside practice, that is.” He pulled at a strand of his hair, looking sideways at the ground while Akaashi’s eyes burned into him. “I’m pretty alright. My dad gave me some of his alcohol from the company party and we got a little too rowdy and then I couldn’t fall asleep… Sorry if that makes things awkward between us. If it helps, I don’t really remember anything I said.”

_“Akaashi is so pretty!”_

Akaashi shook his head. “It’s alright, it’s not awkward. I just wanted to know and make sure.”

Bokuto snapped his head up. “Um…!” he began, freezing for a split second before continuing, “Akaashi do you m - ”

Bokuto was cut off by a buzz from his pocket and his phone lighting up. Akaashi’s eyes fell to the screen as it quickly blinked dark again.

“Er, dead phone, right?”

“…Must have fixed itself,” Bokuto mumbled. “Uh, good night then, Akaashi! I’ll see you at school tomorrow!” He waved goodbye and started jogging away from the school, not even giving Akaashi a chance to say goodbye.

“What did you want to ask me?” he murmured aloud as he started home himself.

 

* * *

 

“He’s doing _what_?!” Akaashi’s sister was shouting into the phone the next morning. “No no no, repeat that, I want to make sure I heard you correctly.”

Akaashi waved good morning. She returned it with a smile.

“Okay, so I did hear you correctly.” She shook her head and took a long drink of her coffee. “Unbelievable, what a scum bag. Not only is he _cheating_ on you, but with _another guy_?” Akaashi’s blood ran cold and he froze in the process of pulling out the dining chair. “What does that excuse? I mean, it’s weird and all, but it— _yes_ , it _does_ still count as cheating!” She wrinkled her nose. “Disgusting.”

Akaashi pushed the chair back in and grabbed his bag. “Heading to school early, I have a test to study for,” he said to his sister. She looked a little heartbroken at her neglected breakfast, but nodded in understanding.

Akaashi’s head felt light as he hurried to school, thoughts racing around what his sister had said. He didn’t know what he was expecting of his sister’s opinion, but this hadn’t been how he’d wanted to find out about it. Her words were wedging themselves into his heart like the pins into bedrock before the dynamite went off. He didn’t like the feeling one bit.

He ran into Konoha at the front gates. The upperclassman gave Akaashi a hard pat on his back with a greeting of, “We got here at the same time! What’re the odds!”

“Very low, in all honesty,” Akaashi replied. “Good morning, Konoha-san.”

Konoha grinned brightly. “I feel great today. Today is gonna be a good day. What do you think?”

Akaashi thought the opposite. He only shrugged in response.

“Did you get chocolates for Shirofuku-kun and Suzumeda-kun yet?”

“Yes, I purchased them last weekend.”

“Of course you were on top of it,” Konoha joked as they entered the school, stopping by Akaashi’s shoe locker first. Akaashi didn’t know why Konoha was following him. “Ah, I really do love the day right before everyone hands out their chocolate. Everyone’s so on their toes, it’s exciting to watch!”

Akaashi shrugged. “I suppose.”

The two parted ways after the shoe lockers, Konoha to the library while Akaashi headed to his homeroom. He did his best not to think about Valentine’s Day.

 

* * *

 

“That wraps up practice. Remember, we have a practice match this Saturday! None of you are skipping just for some romantic holiday — _absolutely no one_!” Coach Yamiji stated firmly. “Now, everyone go get changed!”

“Thank you, coach!” the team said in unison before breaking off in sighs of relief to the locker rooms. Everyone was chatting either about the practice match or the Valentine’s exchange that was happening tomorrow rather than on the actual holiday. Akaashi separated himself from both conversations, stepping into the shower before anyone else and exiting before anyone else. Taking his uniform from the locker, Akaashi quickly excused himself to the bathroom.

The cold, tiled room was welcoming even though his feet craved something warmer. His entire body felt chilled as if he had just walked out of a large freezer and couldn’t quite warm up to the rest of the outside. A shiver passed up his spine and Akaashi hurried to change into the warm school uniform. Perhaps the cold outdoors added to his discomfort — despite weather programs insisting the afternoons were meant to be warm, they never were. Snow and frost still crusted the world, refusing to let go.

Once changed, Akaashi looked himself over in the mirror, ready for his daily score. He took a longer minute to scrutinize himself, squinting at his reflection when he didn’t immediately give himself a one or two out of ten. Could it possibly be… a four out of ten today? He smiled at himself, letting his face relax.

When he turned to tuck his jersey away in his bag, he found it’s usual spot on the back of the toilet empty. He frowned for a moment, trying to figure out where it could have fallen, when he remembered he must have left it in the club room earlier — Bokuto had called a meeting prior to practice to discuss the Valentine’s day exchange on Saturday. Sighing at his own foolishness, wondering how he could have grabbed his jersey from his bag and not the bag itself, Akaashi slid to the floor and fiddled with his uniform. He listened to the faint laughter and chatterings of his team in the locker rooms as they emerged from their showers. One by one or two by two, everyone departed from the locker rooms until at last it was quiet and Akaashi could emerge safely.

The locker room lights had been turned off, but the gym lights remained on. The gym itself was empty, however, though some of the volleyballs remained to the side and not in the storage room. Assuming a couple people had stuck around for some extra practice before the practice match in two days, Akaashi ignored it and made his way to the clubroom.

As he approached the door, he saw light faintly streaming through the window. Wondering who it could be, Akaashi crossed the remaining meters quickly and pulled open the door without little heed of who occupied the other side.

Akaashi froze with one foot inside the club room, hand gripping the doorknob as if loosening it even a bit would let him fall into nothingness. The other two in the room — Konoha and Washio — didn’t register that Akaashi was even here, and for obvious reason.

Washio had Konoha against the wall, one hand on Konoha’s shoulder while the other tipped Konoha’s chin up to better angle their heads into the kiss. Konoha’s back was arched against the wall, body pushing itself closer against Washio, who seemed to gladly be pushing back. Konoha’s hands were initially around Washio’s neck, but as Akaashi watched they moved into Washio’s hair and down his shoulders, sliding further before settling around Washio’s hips. A strange, inexplicable warmth was washing over Akaashi’s entire body — a mix of embarrassment, excitement, and something else. He couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away.

Konoha noticed Akaashi first. When Washio pulled at Konoha’s school tie to move his hungry lips to Konoha’s neck, Konoha’s eyes opened lazily and caught sight of Akaashi gaping in the doorway. Konoha’s breath caught in his throat and he stilled, eyes widening every second he made eye contact with Akaashi. His fingers tightened in Washio’s hair, knuckles white, making Washio grunt in pain and lift his head, following Konoha’s eyes to Akaashi. Surprise replaced everything else in Washio’s face and he seemed to freeze with no regard to his lips still pulling at the skin on Konoha’s neck.

There was a moment of panicked tension between the three of them. Konoha’s face was flamming more from fear than excitement now, fingers curling into Washio’s uniform protectively. Akaashi’s entire brain was running in circles, trying to pin down what he was feeling and send it to his conscious, but failing. Washio, as level-headed as he was, stared until he straightened and asked in such a soft and gentle voice,

“Are you okay, Akaashi-kun?”

 _No_ , was the correct answer, but Akaashi couldn’t form words through his closed throat. He could only stare as the world became increasingly blurry until he felt the burning tears gather and slip down his cheeks. He brought a hand to his eyes and tried to push the tears back, but they wouldn’t obey. He gulped a breath through his crying, deciding this was enough of an answer for Washio.

Washio hurried over and put a hand on either of Akaashi’s shaking shoulders, touch firm and strong against everything else that seemed to be breaking around Akaashi — and Akaashi could only sob into his hands, releasing the doorknob since Washio held him steady. After a minute, Konoha came over and watched with an understanding, pitying expression, his eyes telling that he knew Akaashi’s position all too well. So Akaashi let himself sob before his two seniors, part of him still pretending he didn’t know why he was crying at all.

“Here, you’re probably dehydrated,” Washio said, handing Akaashi a spare water bottle. The three of them now sat at the opening of the gym, Akaashi between his seniors like some kind of upset child sitting between his parents. He took the water bottle gratefully.

“Thank you,” he murmured, taking a long drink, the bottle crinkling between his hands until he came up for air.

“So, uh, we can read the situation pretty clearly,” Washio started, bashful as he admitted it. “And Akinori and I aren’t uncomfortable with you knowing or anything, but we have to ask that you don’t tell anyone else — it’s something we want to reveal on our own time.”

“That’s mostly me, actually,” Konoha said. “Still getting over how, like, my mother moved out with my sister and basically doesn’t acknowledge me beyond helping me pay for rent.” He laughed maliciously at the ground. “Jokes on her, though; Reo-chan’s gay too. She was just better at hiding it.”

Washio reached a hand around Akaashi and squeezed Konoha’s arm. If Akaashi looked closely, it appeared as if Konoha could start crying himself any minute.

Akaashi turned his gaze back to the water bottle in his hands. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Though I have to ask,” Konoha went on, forcing lightheartedness into his voice, “who’s the lucky guy who earned _your_ affections? I’m sure both guys and girls have been pining after you since you started school here.”

“O-oh… that’s…” Akaashi hunched his shoulders even more, feeling is face heat up. “Th-that’d be… B-…” His voice seemed to continuously catch itself and Akaashi realized he had never admitted it out loud, even to himself. “Bo-… Boku-… Bokuto… san…”

Washio, who had been taking a drink from his own water bottle, choked and went into a fit of coughing, holding a hand to his mouth as water flew between his fingers. Konoha was laughing shamelessly aloud, though probably more from stress than anything else. “Seriously?! I never would have guessed! You never treat him any different than any of us, you weren’t obvious at all!”

“And I know someone who is,” Washio wheezed into his hand, finally catching his breath back. “You, uh, planning on giving him chocolates or anything?”

Akaashi’s shoulders deflated. “I don’t know… I have them, but I still need to find the courage for it.”

Konoha nodded. “That’s fair. Courage takes a long time to find. You should have seen how long it took this one to confess to me after coming on to me after practice almost a year ago. It was depressing to watch really!” Konoha laughed fondly and started talking with his hands alongside telling the story. “I’d come to school everyday and just stare at him like, ‘You ready to ask me out yet?’ And _every time_ he would just blush and walk away! And I’d come to him during class and ask, ‘How about now? No? Alright then…’”

Akaashi chuckled into his hand while Washio turned his burning face away from them. “Asshole, you had just gotten kicked out, I didn’t want to make more trouble for you…”

Konoha snorted. “You think that would have made more trouble? Honestly, if my mother doesn’t accept me for who I like then she doesn’t deserve to even be my mother. At this point she only exists in my life to pay my rent; beyond that we don’t matter to each other.”

Akaashi tilted his head to the side. “Surely there’s still a part of you that loves her, just as I’m sure a part of her still loves you regardless of… everything. You’re still family.”

Konoha’s expression turned into one of disgust and Washio tapped Akaashi’s shoulder to turn his attention to himself. “Listen, Akaashi-kun, sometimes family’s aren’t the people you’re born with or the people who raised you. Sometimes ‘family’ consists of people you meet in your life and don’t want to let go of. Konoha’s mother may be his mother, but she isn’t his family.”

Akaashi didn’t understand, but he acknowledged the part of him that desired to. Soon after, the three parted to head home. Akaashi fell asleep with Washio’s words going through his head.

 

* * *

 

When Akaashi got to school the next day, he found his shoe locker filled with love notes and small bags of chocolate like the team had predicted a week earlier. Most of them were unsigned, but a couple were. He made note to seek these people out and decline their advances later.

Konoha and Washio met him at his locker as he was finishing up. Konoha complained about not receiving any chocolates. Washio asked if his chocolates counted. Konoha replied with a smirk and a dirty joke that Akaashi didn’t follow.

“Why are you guys following me?” Akaashi all but complained as Konoha and Washio continued to tail him to his homeroom class. They were practically hanging over his shoulder and Akaashi wondered if he had missed some developmental step in their friendship.

“Because we want to make sure you’re doing alright after last night,” Washio said kindly over Konoha’s blunt, “Because we’re your gay dads now.” It earned him a violent smack upside the head from Washio. Akaashi heaved a sigh, knowing today was going to be a long day.

 

Akaashi wasn’t wrong. An additional fifteen girls came up to him over the course of the day. His only respite was during lunch, which he spent with Konoha and Washio on the roof. For the first time in weeks it was just warm enough to be outside longer than ten minutes, though the three of them were still chattering and complaining about the cold by the time lunch was over.

Akaashi sought out the people who had given him chocolate and letters in the morning at the end of the school day, politely declining their feelings. Only one girl burst into hysterics, but after Akaashi had comforted her they parted ways with understanding and a smile. Akaashi felt good about himself.

 _If all of them can do it,_ he thought on his way home, _then I can do it too._

That night, Akaashi’s sister had been given the afternoon and evening off from work, so the two of them decided to spend some time together by watching television. It was spent mostly in silence, as his sister had been awake since five-AM already anyway. She asked about school and the surplus of chocolates on the kitchen table, to which Akaashi gave general replies. She reminisced about her high school days when she received twice as many chocolates as Akaashi did.

“All the boys had crushes on me,” she said with a yawn. “It was exhausting really.”

Akaashi had to agree and quietly thanked the gods that he wasn’t nearly as pretty as his sister.

Some time later, his phone buzzed with a notification from Kenma. With his sister nodding off, Akaashi didn’t feel bad about ignoring her for the apparent distress Kenma was in.

_[Kenma-kun]: i have news. bad news_

_[Me]: Yes?_

_[Kenma-kun]: its about the chocolates i bought the other day_

_[Kenma-kun]: well to tell u the whole story id need to tell u who i gave them to_

_[Kenma-kun]: i have no one else to talk to_

_[Me]: Do you want to call me? I’m not busy._

_[Kenma-kun]: …no…_

_[Kenma-kun]: its easier over txt, believe me_

_[Me]: Okay. Take your time._

And Kenma did take his time with the next message. It was nearly fifteen minutes later that Akaashi received the whole paragraph of explanation Kenma had to give.

_[Kenma-kun]: to start if off im going to say it outright: the chocolates were for tetsurou. i guess im comfortable telling u because i kno u wont make fun of me… like the others did. my brother had a friend over who found the chocolate in the fridge and not only ate half of it but when my brother told them who it was for even tho he didnt say they were from me the friend laughed and threw the whole box in the trash and now i have no chocolates to give testu tomorrow. the friend doesnt kno they were my chocolates but its not like i could tell him now anyway_

_[Kenma-kun]: this is all awful idk what to do_

Akaashi leapt to his feet and ran upstairs, grabbing socks and his jacket. As he pounded back downstairs, his sister was yawning and stretching on the couch. “What’s going on, Kei-chan? Going out?”

“Yeah, a friend needs my help,” he said. “Something happened and I need to get them something and deliver it to them.”

She stretched and stood up, cracking her back and neck as she did so. “If that’s the case, let me drive you.”

Akaashi shook his head. “You’re tired and this is your night off. You don’t need to go anywhere.”

She only smiled. “Stay put while my little brother runs around town in the middle of the night? No way. I’d be too worried to relax.” She walked over and set a hand on his head, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “I’ll stay out of the way, but at least let me drive you. You don’t even have to explain the situation.”

Akaashi paused for a moment, then nodded. “Thank you.”

To Kenma, he texted,

_[Me]: Hold tight, I’ll fix this for you._

 

Nearly an hour and a half later, Akaashi was at Kenma’s house and knocking on the door, his sister behind him and texting a friend from work. A woman who Akaashi assumed was Kenma’s mother opened the door. He bowed politely to her and asked if it was alright to see Kenma. She replied that he had locked himself in his room and if anyone could get in it’d be a friend. Akaashi thanked her and hurried through the house.

Akaashi had never been to Kenma’s house, but it was as he expected it would be: cozy, brightly lit, and filled with games and posters and artwork. Akaashi didn’t have time to marvel at the decor, though, he was more focused on getting to his friend and delivering the package in his hands.

Kenma’s door was cracked open when Akaashi got to the second floor, probably because Kenma had heard Akaashi come inside. Akaashi knocked anyway before pushing the door open.

Kenma was sitting on the floor on his phone, wrapped in a blanket and wiping at puffy red eyes. Akaashi felt his heart break a little and he rushed over, setting his package on the bed and falling to his knees beside Kenma. Kenma looked up with a deadpan expression, but his eyes spoke leagues to his actual feelings. Akaashi only nodded and scooted next to Kenma, leaning back on the neat bed to just be close to his friend, even if they didn’t speak for a while.

Some time later, Akaashi said, “I stopped by the sweet shop again and picked up replacement chocolates. Ai-san helped me out instead of the chocolatier, so the box is a little different because she thought a different set suited you better. I hope that’s alright.”

Kenma took a deep breath and murmured, voice strangled from crying, “You didn’t need to go so far for me.”

“Are you going to tell Kuroo-san?”

Kenma violently shook his head. “No. I can’t.”

“At least tell him you’re feeling bad.” Akaashi’s eyes fell to the door across from them, noting the chipped wood around the edges. “You two are close, so he’ll know something is wrong. You should tell him now rather than have him figure it out on his own. You two… are like family.”

Kenma was silent for a long time, longer than usual. Akaashi patiently waited until Kenma nodded and pulled up his phone from under the blanket. “What do I even say.”

“What about… just tell him you’re having a bad night?”

“This isn’t a _bad_ bad night, though.”

“Still a bad night.”

“I guess.”

When Kenma finished texting, he held the phone up for Akaashi to see.

_[Me]: bad night. can i talk to u abt it_

Akaashi nodded. “That’s good.” He nudged Kenma’s shoulder. “He’ll understand.”

Kenma snorted at that. “He kinda has to.”

Kuroo never texted back, so Akaashi and Kenma took to sitting in patient silence. The longer Kuroo’s absence went on, the more Kenma began to fidget. First with his phone, then with the blanket, then with his hair. He was in the middle of biting his nails to the cuticles when there was a commotion and a door slamming downstairs. Two seconds later, someone was pounding loudly up the stairs and Kuroo himself threw open the door, leaning heavily on the frame as he gasped for breath, sweat cascading down his face and neck.

“Kenma! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” Kuroo exclaimed. Akaashi scooted to the side as Kuroo fell to his knees and crawled across the carpet to Kenma, gathering Kenma into his arms like a broken doll. Breaking the floodgates once more, Kenma burst into tears and melted in Kuroo’s arms, emerging from his blanket shell to better return Kuroo’s embrace.

Feeling intensely awkward to witness the ordeal, Akaashi clambered to his feet and slipped out of the room, padding down the stairs to where his sister and Kenma’s mother were having a friendly chat, completely ignoring what was going on upstairs.

“Kei-chan, you’re back! Is everything alright up there?” his sister asked, perking up.

Akaashi nodded. “It should be now. Thank you for driving me out here at such a weird hour.” He turned to Kenma’s mother and bowed again. “And thank you for letting us interrupt your evening.”

She smiled and waved her hand. “It’s perfectly alright, Akaashi-kun. I’m glad you and Kuroo-kun were able to perk him up again. He was so upset over what happened I was worried he wouldn’t get out of bed at all this weekend. When he gets like this, sometimes he doesn’t even listen to his own mother.” She chuckled. “It’s his brother’s fault, really. I wish my sons got along like you and your sister. You look so much like her, you know that?”

Akaashi nodded once more. Once his sister had said her farewells, they climbed back into the car and headed home. On their way, Akaashi received one text from Kenma that put his mind to ease.

_[Kenma-kun]: thank you_

 

* * *

 

_“B… Bokuto-san… I know this may seem… out of the ordinary… even so, I was hoping that…” Akaashi stopped, swallowing hard. His hands were sweating bullets; his entire body stood on uneven ground, a small gust of wind liable to push him to his knees. The small, red box tied shut with a shiny, silver ribbon felt slick in his hands where he held it behind his back. He fumbled to keep it in his grasp, overly aware of how heavy it was compared to his origami legs; how bright it was compared to his dull expression._

_“That you might… accept… this…” Trailing off, Akaashi moved his hands like rusty cogs to hand the box of chocolates to Bokuto._

_For once, the box was in his hands, but it felt too light. Still, Akaashi held it out and hoped it would turn out for the best._

_But the hands that took it weren’t Bokuto’s — Akaashi knew from studying them so often. No, these hands were too square and bulky. Akaashi forced himself to look up and identify the stranger’s face. He found himself looking into Onaga’s laughing eyes._

_“Boys shouldn’t give chocolate to other boys during Valentine’s,” he cackled._

 

Akaashi rolled out of bed with his alarm screaming across the room from where he had left his phone on his desk last night. The batter blinked low-power at him, so he plugged it in after shutting the alarm off, hoping it’d have enough time to charge before he left for the practice match.

As usual, his sister had left breakfast out with a goodmorning note. Akaashi warmed it up before sitting down to eat in chilly silence, wishing the weather would warm up already. Even wearing thick socks he couldn’t feel his toes.

Not wanting to be too full before the game, Akaashi gathered the remaining food and tucked it away in the fridge. Finding space was easy, their fridge was never too full since his sister only ever cooked for the day. Akaashi took a moment to sigh at the sight of it, wondering if it’s be fuller if he ever helped out too.

“I really let her do too much,” he murmured, making a mental note to go grocery shopping when he had the chance. He had never done it before, but he supposed it couldn’t be that hard.

His eyes fell to the red chocolate box sitting isolated on the top shelf, and it felt like the box was staring back at him. Akaashi took a deep, shaky breath and pulled it from its perch, setting it on the counter. Could he actually do this? Part of him said he _had to do it_ , because he had already put so much emotional effort into it that it would be a waste to chicken out now. Another part of him reasoned that he _didn’t need to_ , because it also made perfect sense to move at his own pace and not overly stress himself out. A third part reminded him that every second leading up to the confession would be easier than the confession itself, no matter when it happened.

“Better now than never,” he stated aloud, as if the actual words could seal the deal. He was going to do it today after practice, probably after the exchange with their managers. He let his mind play it out: stopping Bokuto before leaving the locker rooms, hopefully when they were alone, which also meant Akaashi would have to change there in front of everyone — _fuck_. That wasn’t something he was looking forward to, but he’d have to if he wanted to catch Bokuto alone. He could suck it up this once, he decided, for the sake of everything else. Besides, Bokuto thought he was pretty, so Bokuto would probably appreciate seeing Akaashi shirtless…

Akaashi’s face flamed and he dropped his head to his hands, groaning into his palms as he banished the thought of Bokuto’s intense, golden eyes dragging their gaze down Akaashi’s neck and back and arms, probably falling lower assuming he was interested in Akaashi as much as Akaashi was interested in him. The thought made Akaashi’s mind spin and he quickly turned to the sink to splash cold water on his face, trying to calm down.

“What am I gonna do,” he whispered in vain to the sink.

 

Ten minutes before heading out, Akaashi decided the plain red box wasn’t good enough on its own, so he rifled swiftly through the storage room for any leftover gift wrap and birthday supplies. At last, he picked a silver ribbon from the pile and used a fork the way his sister had taught him to make a floofy bow with multiple bends. It was a little lopsided, but Akaashi imagined the chocolatier laughing and saying, _“It adds character!”_ Satisfied with his work, he hid the chocolate under the boxes for his managers and hurried out the door.

 

* * *

 

“Akaashi!” Bokuto shouted when Akaashi stepped through the school gates, breath fogging before his team who meandered around the bus, everyone buzzing with an unspoken regret at being up at such an hour on Saturday. Akaashi jumped when Bokuto called his name, but kept his face placid.

“Good morning, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said. “Did you get the game plans from the club room?”

“Shirofuku and Suzumeda are getting them,” Bokuto replied brightly, grinning and bouncing around despite the early hour. “But we still need to discuss things and stuff on the bus! We don’t get to sleep, we have to figure out how to beat people.”

Akaashi smiled into his scarf where Bokuto couldn’t see. “Right, that is something we can do on the bus. Shall I sit next to you, then? It’ll be easier than talking across the aisle.”

Something in Bokuto’s expression froze for a moment before he stammered, “Y-yeah! I was just gonna suggest the same thing! Haha, you’re just a mind reader Akaashi.” He laughed some more, warm and hearty and coming from his chest. Everything Bokuto did he did in full; Akaashi wished he had that kind of commitment in his life.

“We’re here!” Shirofuku sang from the direction of the clubrooms, waving to the team who waved back. “We got everything, so let’s get going already. We’re not allowed to give Itachiyama a bad impression of us, okay?”

The team gave a chorus of agreement before clambering onto the bus, everyone claiming seats to themselves save Washio and Konoha near the back and Bokuto and Akaashi near the front.

Akaashi wished he could say the things he and Bokuto talked about were serious and important to the impending match, but at some point Bokuto commented on Akaashi’s scarf and they launched into a conversation about winter fashion. Bokuto lamented how he wished it was warmer and ended up talking in length about the garden in front of his house that his father loved. Bokuto talked about his parents and siblings and how he wanted to be better at studying. Akaashi talked about his sister working all the time and how he wanted to find a part-time job over the summer to help her out. He added that he was thinking to starting to help with meals, but admitted he had no idea how to cook. Bokuto offered for Akaashi and his sister to join Bokuto’s family for meals if they forgot to cook, because Bokuto’s father always made too much food and most of the leftovers went bad before anyone ate them. Akaashi thought of his empty fridge and said he’d love to join Bokuto’s family for a meal some time.

Soon, the bus was pulling into Itachiyama and Shirofuku and Suzumeda were shaking half the team awake again. No one wanted to step into the cold, but a new kind of excited buzz was passing between them at the prospect of being in a match against Itachiyama. The managers were ready to scout out any weaknesses and the rest of the team was ready to keep Bokuto in line before he slipped up and decided to show off too much — which Akaashi reminded them was weakness number six.

“Okay everyone, let’s do our best!” Shirofuku encouraged, to which everyone cheered. Even Akaashi had a positive outlook on the day’s practice matches to come.

 

Nearly five hours later, the team was half-dragging themselves half-bouncing back into the locker rooms back at Fukurōdani — their matches against Itachiyama having been a close eight wins and nine losses. It had put people like Bokuto in a slump of disappointment, but the chocolate exchange at the very end when they had all gotten off the bus had brightened everyone. Shirofuku had looked ready to pass out in bliss at all the chocolate handed to her while Suzumeda blushed tomato-red and tried to refuse the gifts. Only when Shirofuku said she’d take Suzumeda’s share instead did Suzumeda accept the chocolate, albeit still begrudgingly.

But up until now had been the easy part. Even speaking on the bus and being only a hand’s width away seemed like nothing to Akaashi’s nerves in the face of staring his personal chocolates down in the middle of the locker room. He took a deep breath and folded his towel over them, instead reaching for the hem of his shirt to pull over his head, casting quick looks to Bokuto every couple seconds.

Bokuto had shed his shirt already and was humming contentedly with a towel thrown over a shoulder, heading for the showers as he usually did. Akaashi held his breath and found himself staring at Bokuto’s retreating back, hand once more reaching for the chocolate. The more he stared, the more his beating heart deafened every other thought. Akaashi could just do it now, not a thought for the others around him. Everyone was already heading for the showers now anyway, he could probably keep Bokuto an extra minute to do the confession and get it over with -

_“Boys shouldn’t give other boys chocolates on Valentine’s.”_

\- Akaashi lowered the chocolate back into the bag and turned his eyes to his shaking hands.

No way. No way he could do this.

Even with only Konoha and Onaga left in the locker rooms, Akaashi felt like everyone’s eyes were on him, judging him and his red face and ears. He grabbed his towel and hugged it around his body, bolting for the showers, unaware of Konoha’s knowing gaze following him the whole way.

 _Idiot idiot idot_ , Akaashi chastised, switching from glaring at the shower wall and glaring at himself, scrubbing his sweaty body and hair with a vengeance. He guessed his sister would have a nice box of chocolate’s from him this year after all. They were still good chocolates, either way; it would be such a shame to let them go to waste. She was the next best person who deserved them for all her hard work — yeah, perhaps they should have gone to her in the first place, not some unrequited crush.

Akaashi lingered in the shower until he assumed almost everyone else had gone, shoulders feeling heavy from too much emotion. He was already planning the long, hot bath he was going to take back home. Maybe he’d even spoil himself and borrow some of his sister’s scented body wash. Then he’d curl up with a mug of hot cocoa under a blanket and watch dumb movies until his sister got home.

His thoughtful planning was cut short when he stepped back into the locker rooms and found them void save Bokuto, who sat on a bench, fully dressed in his casual clothes and tapping innocently away on his phone. It didn’t take long for him to notice Akaashi staring wide-eyed, but Bokuto just grinned and waved. “Hey hey! Konoha said you had to talk to me about something. The matches we just had? What’s up?”

Akaashi felt all legible words fleeing his tongue as part of him short-circuited and the other part of him silently cursed out Konoha for intervening. He and Washio were probably laughing right about now and Akaashi would be sure to make them pay for it later.

“N-nothing,” Akaashi answered, forcing a tight smile. “He must have misheard me or something.” He reached for his bag sitting near Bokuto, wanting to get _out_ of the towel and _in_ his clothes as soon as possible, because Bokuto’s gaze was boiling wherever it landed on his body and Akaashi was sure he would burst into flame if he lingered any longer. “I’ll, uh, go change now. You head on home, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto’s gave a lopsided grin, face still read from the showers. “Nah, I can wait. You always head out alone, that’s gotta suck if it happens all the time.”

“Oh. Not really,” Akaashi admitted, confused by Bokuto’s out-of-the-blue concern for him. “I just live in the opposite direction of everyone. It’s not a big deal.”

Now Bokuto pouted, turning his lip up at Akaashi. Akaashi couldn’t help but withhold laughter at the childish look. “It’s still not cool. So I’ll wait for you anyway.” He stood and marched out of the locker rooms, and Akaashi knew he was going to find Bokuto waiting outside regardless of what more Akaashi said.

Akaashi sighed and tightened his grip on his towel, wishing he hadn’t just had that conversation without him wearing a shirt. He slid to his knees with face in his hands, trying to calm his beating heart that felt like it was pushing its way up his throat. This wasn’t going to be fun. This _was not_ going to be fun. Some god — or _Konoha_ — had cursed Akaashi with a second chance and now he felt even worse over his cowardice earlier.

It wasn’t like Bokuto was going to walk him home, right? So Akaashi could, _in theory_ , give the chocolates at the school gates and bolt home, forget he had done it all weekend, and face the repercussions of his actions on Monday. Yes, that was a good plan. That way he couldn’t regret _not_ giving the chocolates, at the very least, and he supposed ruining his entire high school social career for the sake of his pride was worth it.

Akaashi rushed into his clothes, not even worrying about them sitting right on his body. In fact, he didn’t even both to judge himself in the mirror. In less than three minutes, Akaashi had positioned the box of chocolates at the top of his bag, half-zipped it closed, and emerged from the locker rooms to Bokuto leaning against the wall near the door, once more on his phone. Bokuto perked right up, though, when Akaashi appeared, grinning and slipping his phone back into his pocket.

“That was fast, Akaashi!” Bokuto praised. “Though you’re shirt is - ”

“Bokuto-san! Please take this!” Akaashi exclaimed, knowing his face was flaming like the brightest sunset one could imagine. He yanked the chocolates from his bag and shoved them at Bokuto, only looking at him long enough to assure Bokuto had a grip on them before turning and speed walking as fast as he could out of the gym. The cold air outside was a welcome distraction to the embarrassed fire coursing through his body. At that moment he left his brain behind so no more second-guessed thoughts could plague him about his actions — because he had done it. He had given Bokuto the chocolates and… well, ran. That meant it was time to emotionally shut down until he faced Bokuto again on Monday.

“AAAAAKAAASSHHIIIIIII!” he heard a voice that could only be Bokuto’s shout behind him as he neared the school gates. Akaashi turned to see Bokuto full on sprinting towards him, feet kicking up dirty snow. In inexplicable panic, Akaashi shook his head, turned back around, and started running away from Bokuto. Bokuto shouted his name again, but Akaashi just kept running in the direction of home, unable to even think of facing Bokuto about anything — the chocolate, the game, the day of the week — right now.

Unfortunately, Akaashi had always had lower stamina. Even though he had a head start and the advantage of knowing the direction, Bokuto caught up in a mere minute and grabbed Akaashi’s arm, painfully yanking them both to a panting halt in the middle of the darkening street.

“What… what the hell… Akaashi,” Bokuto panted, one hand on his knee while the other kept a firm hold on Akaashi’s arm. Akaashi learned against the closest lamp post, trying to pull air back into his burning lungs. Practicing all day and now this was, surprisingly, not doing wonders for his cardio. “Why did… you run… away from… me?”

“Because I didn’t… want to know… what you thought… Bokuto-san,” Akaashi answered, blinking faint stars from his eyes. Was he really this out of shape? How embarrassing. “Why did… you chase me?”

“Why do… you think?!” Bokuto shouted, straightening so he could get right into Akaashi’s face. Akaashi was forced to look at Bokuto’s irate expression, brows furrowed with intense questioning and frustration. He smelled like coconut and sweat. Akaashi felt his willpower stumbling lower by the second. “You gave me chocolates! And now only that, look at ‘em!” He let Akaashi go so he could rifle through his bag and draw out the box, opening it up to show off the contents as if Akaashi didn’t already know what was inside. “They’re owls! I can’t read the English text, but I’m sure it’s something sweet and lovey-dovey and that’s not fair because _I_ was going to give you chocolates!”

Akaashi was beginning to severely regret leaving his brain behind after giving Bokuto the chocolates, because it had yet to catch up for the present conversation and that made it very hard to make sense of what Bokuto was saying. So all Akaashi could stammer was, “What?”

“Me! I was going to give you chocolates! This totally isn’t fair!” Bokuto sifted through his disorganized bag once more and pulled out a thin, pink box with a gold ribbon and and a clear front to display a row of truffles. “These are for you and I was going to present them first!”

Akaashi numbly took the box into his hands, staring hard at it before looking up to meet Bokuto’s confusingly offended eyes. Akaashi shook his head before starting slowly, “Wait, Bokuto-san, I’m not following. Are you giving me chocolates because you - ”

“Because I like you!”

If Akaashi’s brain hadn’t short-circuited before, it certainly had now. All he could do was stare hard at Bokuto with no words coming to his tongue for a reply. The world was moving very slowly around him as his heart beat faster and faster in elation. Bokuto liked him! Bokuto, of all people, liked him! Bokuto liked him, of all people! Akaashi couldn’t think of a single feeling that compared to the joy he felt right now.

“Um, Akaashi? You’ve gone very quiet and very, very red.”

Giving up on words, Akaashi stepped forward and threw his arms around Bokuto’s neck, launching all his weight, which wasn’t much, into Bokuto’s arms who caught him seamlessly. “It was too easy!” he cried at last, trying not to grip the chocolates too hard he would crush them. “I panicked about this for months and then just like this! Just like this…! It’s almost not even fair…” Akaashi couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying — probably a mix of both.

“What? I’m the one who should be saying that!” Bokuto argued, wrapping his arms around Akaashi’s back and burying his face against Akaashi’s neck. “Washio and Kuroo were making fun of me and trying to play matchmaker! Do you know what’s it’s like to have Washio let alone Kuroo all up in your business? It’s infuriating and I felt like I couldn’t actually get anything done!”

Akaashi was definitely laughing now, wrapping his arms tighter around Bokuto, afraid that if he let go Bokuto would vanish like a dream. Speaking of dreams, the whole ordeal had gone nothing at all like Akaashi’s dreams over the past couple months — he supposed he should be thankful for that. They were just dreams, after all, of course they held no place in reality.

“Gahh, I don’t want to let you go but I’m so hungry!” Bokuto whined after a minute. He rocked back and forth in self-protest, making Akaashi lose his balance with every step — but Akaashi wasn’t afraid of falling; Bokuto’s hold on him was comfortingly secure. “Not fair not fair!”

Akaashi swallowed and was glad he couldn’t see Bokuto’s face when he said, “You could probably come over to my house for dinner… we’re only five minutes away at this point anyway…”

Bokuto jumped back and held Akaashi at arm’s length, eyes wide with excitement and Akaashi was forced to reveal his embarrassingly red face. “Really? Dinner at your house? That would be amazing!”

“We don’t have much… just left overs and some stuff in the pantry…”

Bokuto waved his hand. “I can make a meal out of anything just you watch me. Oh! But…” His expression grew serious though redness still dusted his nose. “I have to ask to make this _official_ and so I can brag to the team that not only am I dating someone I’m dating _you_ …” He trailed off and grabbed Akaashi’s hand between both his own, holding it tightly between them. “Keiji Akaashi, will you be my first and favorite and best boyfriend in the whole wide world?”

Akaashi’s face flamed once more and he glanced away. “I don’t know if I can be the best… but I can try to be all the other things…” His voice was quickly fading, so he tried to finish up the thought with, “If you’d… still have… me…”

“Of course!” Bokuto pushed his face forward until he forced their eyes to meet. “Which means we get to hold hands and I’ll teach you how to cook and do other cute shit. Okay? And I also get to call you by your first name because ‘Akaashi’ is great and all, but ‘Keiji’ is way prettier.”

Akaashi stammered agreement, nodding quickly to make up for lack of words. Bokuto grinned.

“Let’s go to Keiji’s house then!” he announced to the street lamps, taking Akaashi’s hand firmly in his own and leading the way despite not knowing where he was going. Akaashi only laughed and tightened his hold on Bokuto.

He couldn’t wait to tell the chocolatier the good news.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

  

 

**epilogue**

 

“Nee-san?”

“Hmm?”

“Um… a couple days ago, when you were on the phone with your friend… whose boyfriend cheated on her with another boy… you said it was disgusting. Do you think boys being together is disgusting?”

“Ah, no no. I have no trouble with guys being together — it was the problem that he cheated in the first place that makes him a disgusting man. Even with another guy, that was wrong of him and I’m glad she’s dumped his unfaithful ass for someone better.”

“Oh, I see! That’s great to hear.”

 

* * *

 

“Onaga-san, can I have a moment?”

“Sure, what’s up, Akaashi-san?”

“I just had a question about something you said a while ago. I know it might be obvious, but what did… what did you mean by ‘boys shouldn’t give boys chocolates on Valentine’s’?”

“Oh, from when you suggested that we all give chocolates to everyone? I guess what I meant was that, like, we shouldn’t give chocolates to each other if we didn’t mean anything behind it, ya know? Like I was totally giving confession chocolates to Suzumeda-san — have you seen her freckles? She’s just too cute!”

“Wait, so you meant that… as long as the chocolates are meaningful, it’s alright to give them even if they’re to another guy?”

“Well, yeah, I guess I meant it that way too. I was mostly just thinking of Suzumeda-san though.”

“No, it’s alright, I understand. Thanks for your time, Onaga-san.”

 

* * *

 

_[Me]: Did you clear things up with pain-in-the-ass Kuroo-san?_

_[Kenma-kun]: yeah we banged_

_[Me]: …Pardon?_

_[Kenma-kun]: like we had sex_

_[Me]: …I’ll take the answer to my question as a ‘yes’ then._

_[Kenma-kun]: oh yea we cleared things up too_

_[Me]: Hopefully before you two got… busy._

_[Kenma-kun]: dw we used protection_

_[Me]: Kenma-kun I didn’t ask._

_[Kenma-kun]: ya but ur dating kō now so like_

_[Kenma-kun]: if u need any advice i can give it to u_

_[Me]: …I’ll keep it in mind._

_[Kenma-kun]: np_

 

* * *

 

“Boku — Kōtarō, I’ve been meaning to ask.”

“Hm? About what?”

“About the night you called me while you were drunk. You said not to worry about it, but I am worrying. Is everything okay at home? Are you getting along with your family?”

“Of course of course! Nothing was wrong, Akaash — Keiji. What happened was my dad got a promotion so everyone gave him alcohol as a gift, which he brought home and insisted he have me try some, even though mom said not to, but I did anyway! Anyway, long story short I’m never drinking alcohol again. At least not for a while. Like I’ll probably totally - ”

“Bo — Kōtarō, I get it, I just wanted to be sure. You can understand why I was worried, though.”

“Well… yeah, I can.”

“Promise me never to do that again?”

“I promise I promise! Stop pinching my cheek!”

 

* * *

 

“Nee-san, I was thinking of getting a job this summer.”

“Oh, no way, Kei-chan! If you need an allowance, I can spare some - ”

“No. No I want to do this. For myself and for you. You work yourself to the bone every week and barely get a day to yourself. You don’t need to do this all by yourself. Besides, it’s also experience for me.”

“Kei-chan…”

“It’ll only be mornings and afternoons. Kōtarō wants to come over during evenings and teach me how to cook for a family — I mean _our_ family, like you and me, not Kōtarō and I… sorry, that came out wrong.”

“Haha, don’t worry! I got it. Well, if it’s Bo-chan coming over then I guess I’ll get off my evening shifts so I can see him more often. He’s such a great boy, isn’t he?”

“Yes, I know very well, nee-san.”

“Ah, actually since we’re started this conversation, it’s a good segway into this other thing I wanted to talk to you about…”

 

* * *

 

The streets near the sweet shop post-Valentine’s Day were quiet for a Saturday morning. By now businesses had moved on to look forward to the next holiday, shifting their shop decorations to spring colors and greener things. The weather was finally catching up to everyone’s mood, too. The snow had melted at last, revealing pale green buds and untrimmed grass. The sun warmed the ground quickly and soon people were wandering in shorts and tees, trading hot drinks for cold ones.

“The weather is so nice today,” Kōtarō commented blissfully from where he walked besides Keiji. Kōtarō didn’t know where they were going, but Keiji did.

“I hope it keeps up,” Keiji added. “My sister and I are moving soon. Would be a problem if it suddenly snowed again.”

“Right right! You can’t afford the big house anymore, can you.”

Keiji shook his head. “Technically we could, but it would leave my sister working three jobs and never being home. She’s been doing that for a couple years now and we decided it was time she gave herself a break.”

“Where are you moving to again? It’s far away, isn’t it…”

“Unfortunately, far enough away that I’ll need to take the train to school.” Keiji smiled and took Kōtarō’s hand. “Don’t worry, it’s still a short enough distance that we can hang out and you can teach me how to cook.”

Kōtarō stopped walking to bump his head against Keiji’s. “Still can’t make chocolate as good as you.”

Keiji giggled. “That’s my secret.” He pointed ahead of them. “Here we are.”

The sweet shop had retained its look from when Keiji had first visited, though its Valentine’s Day selection had been replaced with a more general selection of sweet and chocolates. Leading Kōtarō towards the door, he entered with ease and a smile.

Ai didn’t seem to be present. Keiji had to assume she was out her weekly date with Reo.

“Afternoon, Kei-san!” the chocolatier called from the far side of the room where he was hard at work conching and refining a vast amount of chocolate. It was dark bittersweet chocolate from the look of it, ribbons of paleness hinted at a secondary flavor, perhaps cinnamon. Keiji couldn’t wait to taste it when it was finished. “Who’s yer friend?”

Keiji stepped to the side so he and Kōtarō could faced the chocolatier together. Smiling, Keiji gestured and said, “This is Kōtarō Bokuto. He’s the one I made the chocolates for.”

The chocolatier smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> *tacks on the epilogue bc I dont want to make it 2 chapters long*
> 
> ((lmao so I tripped and fell into Konoha x Washio somehow???? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE))
> 
> thanks for reading!!!!!!!! def check out more of [Takei's art](http://takei-draws.tumblr.com/) too <3


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